Mar 23, 2016
Letter to the Technological Community on College Scorecard Data
Last fall, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released an Application Programming Interface (API) that makes publicly accessible all of the data used to build the College Scorecard. A variety of journalists and researchers have already started building new tools using these data. This month, the Postsecondary Data Collaborative (PostsecData) reached out to the technological community with a series of recommendations for tool development and items of interest.
Among the letter’s recommendations and points of interest, PostsecData highlights the importance of mobile devices as access points for low-income students, the need for student-friendly language and multi-lingual tools, the benefits of pairing college search with topics in financial aid and test prep, and impact of counselor/advisor components. Other highlights include building suites of linked applications/tools based on key student characteristics such as age and desired program of study.
The PostsecData letter further encourages providers to consider post-college outcomes beyond earnings, to carefully consider data definitions and restrictions, and to test any apps in development with students prior to launch.
for the full list of recommendations and items of interest. |