College · Family Resources

Weigh what graduates
earn against what they owe

Earnings alone do not tell you much; earnings next to debt do. Enter each college's median earnings and debt for your field, rate placement, the career center and the network, and see what a loan payment would take out of a paycheck.

Start a comparisonWhat you get

Comparisons

The worked example is made up: accounting at three colleges, for a student who counts debt and job placement as must-haves. Use initials or a code.

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What you get

College · Family ResourcesFree

What you finish with
A saved comparison per decision: how much earnings, debt, placement, the career center and the network matter; each college rated 1 to 5 with median earnings and median debt; seven questions such as field-of-study data and survey response rates marked answered or still to ask; and a next step. The flags rank the colleges, turn each median debt into a monthly payment over 10 years at an example 6% rate and a share of yearly earnings, call out debt higher than a year of earnings and flag a must-have rated 2 or lower. A side-by-side table prints.
Who it is for
High school students and families comparing colleges and majors, and college students weighing a transfer.
Format
Browser tool with a saved record per decision. Prints a side-by-side table with the scores, the full record, every comparison in a table or a blank form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Family Resources space in Caveat College.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Look up your field in the federal data.
  2. Enter median earnings and debt.
  3. Weigh debt and placement.
  4. Rate each college.
  5. Print the side-by-side table.

Start a comparison

Where outcome numbers come from

Three sources, three kinds of answerTells youWatch forCollege ScorecardEarnings and debtFederal aid recipients onlyFirst-destinationJobs, grad schoolShare who answeredLicensure ratesExam pass ratesOnly licensed fieldsThree sources, three kinds of answerCollege ScorecardTells you: Earnings and debtWatch for: Federal aid recipients onlyFirst-destinationTells you: Jobs, grad schoolWatch for: Share who answeredLicensure ratesTells you: Exam pass ratesWatch for: Only licensed fields
Each source covers different students; use the same source for every college you compare.

Earnings in context

College Scorecard, from the U.S. Department of Education, reports median earnings and median federal loan debt, by college and for many fields of study. Its numbers come from students who received federal aid, so they may not describe every graduate. Field-level numbers matter: two majors at one college can differ by tens of thousands of dollars.

The payment in the flags

The monthly figure is a standard 10-year repayment at an example 6% interest rate; federal rates are set each year and private loans differ. A common rule of thumb is to keep total student debt below a first year's salary. Income-driven repayment plans can lower payments; studentaid.gov has a loan simulator.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Education. College Scorecard: earnings and debt by field of study (collegescorecard.ed.gov).
  2. National Association of Colleges and Employers. First-Destination Survey standards and protocols (naceweb.org).
  3. U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid. Loan Simulator and repayment plans (studentaid.gov).
  4. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook: pay and job outlook (bls.gov/ooh).

The worked example, its colleges and its numbers are made up. The payment uses an example rate, not a quote. Past graduates' outcomes are not a promise about any one student. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.