Where Does CP's Content Come From?
College Prowler content comes from a variety of sources including student surveys, school administrators, government databases, and student authors. This data is then used to generate our rankings and power our college search tools.
If you are a school administrator and would like to update your school's information or add photos, videos, or events, please create a free account. Otherwise, if you find a piece of data that is inaccurate or out of date, please contact us.
We've compiled an explanation of where each type of content comes from:
Facts/StatisticsStudent ReviewsStudent PollsStudent Author ContentCollege RankingsHighlights/Best Of/Worst OfPhotos/VideosComparable SchoolsMajors ContentScholarship Listings
Facts/Statistics
There are two kinds of facts/statistics: Basic and In-Depth. Basic facts/statistics typically come from sources like IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System), Common Data Sets (documents sometimes released by colleges and universities with various information), and participating university/college admissions officers who update information on the College Prowler website. An example of a Basic fact/statistic would be: "Full-Time Undergrads: 3,927." In-Depth facts/statistics are a little different. They still might involve sources like IPEDS and Common Data Sets, but they can also incorporate the school website and similar resources. For example, an In-Depth fact/statistic would be: "Main Libraries: Canaday Library, Carpenter Library, Collier Library."
Student Reviews
Student reviews are submitted by current college students and alumni through the College Prowler Student Survey or while perusing the College Prowler website. Each review is tied to a particular topic (e.g., Campus Housing) and consists of a title, brief review, and a grade the student assigns to that aspect of campus life. These letter grades are then factored into the overall grade for that section along with various facts/statistics and student poll responses.
If you are a current college student or recent alumnus, you can contribute to the College Prowler website by submitting your own reviews in the college student survey.
Student Polls
Student poll results come from information derived from the College Prowler Student Survey. For example, with the Campus Housing section, students are asked in our survey to rate their campus housing on a scale of "Very Poor" to "Excellent" in the following areas: "Age of buildings," "Amenities/perks," "Cleanliness," etc. The results from these polls are then factored into the overall grade for each section.
If you are a current college student or recent alumnus, you can contribute to the College Prowler website by submitting your own poll responses in the college student survey.
Student Author Content
Student-authored content comes from individually hired student authors who write the guidebook to their school. Students are recruited to become authors through a number of ways, including survey responses, emails, and hiring coordinator solicitation. After a student is hired to write a guidebook, he or she is responsible for sending out a survey link to fellow students and peers, so that they can provide feedback on a given school. After students take the surveys, the student author peruses responses and writes his or her observations in the form of short paragraphs, student favorites/tips, and student author overviews. Student authors are responsible for covering 29 sections for traditional colleges and universities or nine sections for career schools and community colleges. Once a guidebook is completed, it enters the editing queue here at College Prowler, where it will go through two rounds of editing, and be published to the College Prowler website. To learn more about becoming a student author for College Prowler, click here.
College Rankings
College Prowler assigns 20 grades to each traditional four-year college or university and seven grades to each career school or community college. Grades cover a variety of student life topics and are based on three types of data: student reviews, student polls, and facts/statistics.
For a given topic, grades are determined by calculating a total score for each school based on a variety of factors from each data type. These scores are then compared across all ranked schools for that topic and are translated into a final grade that reflects the school's performance in that topic as compared to the performance of all other ranked schools. A given school is not ranked until a minimum threshold of student surveys is completed for that school. Rankings for all schools are updated every Saturday morning to account for new student surveys and newly ranked schools.
College Prowler also publishes a series of Subrankings which are distinct from the Rankings in that each Ranking is based on dozens of pieces of data while each Subranking focuses on one specific piece of data (e.g., Tuition).
Highlights/Best/Worst
Best and Worst lists are compiled by student authors who incorporate both their own observations as well as students' reviews. In addition to these lists, these sections highlight key areas where the school excels or is lacking based on student surveys and facts/statistics.
Photos/Videos
College Prowler photos and videos come from students, student authors, school administrators, content partners, and other related sources.
Comparable Schools
Each school, if available, has a list of its four most frequently compared schools. This list is generated based on the frequency of school comparisons within College Prowler's school comparison tool.
Majors Content
Major content comes from many of the same sources of our school content including IPEDS, student surveys, and school administrators, as well as a few additional sources such as the US Department of Labor, O*NET, and state/regional organizations. Job and internship listings are provided by SimplyHired.
Scholarship Listings
Our scholarship database is powered by SuperCollege.com, one of the largest and most up-to-date scholarship databases available.