# College Scorecard Normalizer — US College Data (`wakey7dev/college-scorecard-normalizer`) Actor

Search & normalize US college data from the Dept of Education. Cleaned school names, degree types, ownership & size categories. 6,200+ institutions with tuition, admissions, earnings & more. Free API, no key required.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/wakey7dev/college-scorecard-normalizer.md
- **Developed by:** [Chris Wakefield](https://apify.com/wakey7dev) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, AI, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per usage

This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-usage

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

![Chris The Dev](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chriswakefield87/appstore-screenshot-translator/main/assets/actor-banner.png)

## College Scorecard Normalizer — US College Data

Search and normalize US college and university data from the official **Department of Education College Scorecard API**. Get cleaned, human-readable data for 6,200+ institutions — tuition costs, admission rates, post-graduation earnings, demographics, and more.

**No API key required** — uses the free DEMO\_KEY by default. For higher rate limits, get a free key at [api.data.gov/signup](https://api.data.gov/signup/).

### Features

- 🔍 **Search by school name**, state, city, ownership type, or degree level
- 🧹 **Automatic normalization**: school names, degree types (Certificate → Bachelor's → Graduate), ownership (Public/Private), size categories
- 💰 **Cost filters**: max in-state tuition, min post-grad earnings
- 📊 **Rich output**: tuition (in/out of state), net price, admission rates, SAT/ACT scores, completion rates, enrollment, demographics, Pell Grant rates
- 📋 **Human-readable output**: formatted summary table in run log + KVS OUTPUT
- 🤖 **AI-ready**: output schema enables AI agents and MCP clients to discover and chain results

### Input Parameters

| Parameter | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `searchQuery` | string | School name to search (e.g. "Harvard", "Community College") |
| `state` | string | 2-letter state abbreviation (e.g. "CA", "NY") |
| `city` | string | City name (e.g. "Boston") |
| `ownership` | select | Public / Private Nonprofit / Private For-Profit |
| `degreeType` | select | Certificate / Associate's / Bachelor's / Graduate |
| `minAdmissionRate` | number | Minimum admission rate % (0 = open admission) |
| `maxAdmissionRate` | number | Maximum admission rate % |
| `maxTuitionInState` | number | Maximum in-state tuition ($) |
| `minEarnings` | number | Minimum median earnings 10yr after entry ($) |
| `maxResults` | integer | Max schools to return (1-500, default 50) |
| `apiKey` | string | Your data.gov API key (optional, uses free DEMO\_KEY by default) |

### Example Input

```json
{
  "searchQuery": "Engineering",
  "state": "MA",
  "degreeType": "bachelor",
  "maxTuitionInState": 30000,
  "minEarnings": 60000,
  "maxResults": 20
}
```

### Example Output (Dataset Item)

```json
{
  "id": 166683,
  "name": "Massachusetts Institute of Technology",
  "nameRaw": "Massachusetts Institute of Technology",
  "city": "Cambridge",
  "state": "Massachusetts",
  "zip": "02139",
  "website": "https://web.mit.edu/",
  "ownership": "Private Nonprofit",
  "degreeType": "Graduate",
  "sizeCategory": "Medium (4-year)",
  "admissionRate": "4.1%",
  "tuitionInState": 53450,
  "tuitionOutOfState": 53450,
  "avgNetPrice": 20232,
  "medianEarnings10yr": 124213,
  "completionRate": "95.4%",
  "enrollment": 11520,
  "satAvg": 1543,
  "pellGrantRate": "16.2%"
}
```

### Use Cases

- **College comparison platforms** — power search-by-outcome tools for students and families
- **Education research** — analyze ROI, access, and outcomes across 6,200+ institutions
- **Real estate investment** — identify college towns with growing enrollment
- **College admissions consulting** — build data-driven recommendation engines
- **Workforce development** — match employer needs with graduate output by region
- **AI/ML pipelines** — feed normalized education data into models for socioeconomic analysis

### Data Source

[U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard](https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/) — official government data updated annually. Public domain. API: [api.data.gov/ed/collegescorecard](https://api.data.gov/docs/ed/collegescorecard/).

# Actor input Schema

## `searchQuery` (type: `string`):

Search by school name (e.g. 'Harvard', 'Community College', 'Engineering'). Leave empty to browse all schools.

## `state` (type: `string`):

Filter by US state abbreviation (e.g. 'CA', 'NY', 'TX'). Leave empty for all states.

## `city` (type: `string`):

Filter by city name (e.g. 'Boston', 'Chicago'). Leave empty for all cities.

## `ownership` (type: `string`):

Filter by school ownership type.

## `degreeType` (type: `string`):

Filter by predominant degree awarded.

## `minAdmissionRate` (type: `number`):

Minimum admission rate as percentage (e.g. 50 for 50%). 0 = open admission. Leave empty for no filter.

## `maxAdmissionRate` (type: `number`):

Maximum admission rate as percentage. Leave empty for no filter.

## `maxTuitionInState` (type: `number`):

Maximum in-state tuition in USD. Leave empty for no filter.

## `minEarnings` (type: `number`):

Minimum median earnings 10 years after entry. Leave empty for no filter.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of schools to return (1-500). Default: 50.

## `apiKey` (type: `string`):

Your data.gov API key for higher rate limits. Leave empty to use the free DEMO\_KEY (limited to ~30 requests/min). Get a free key at https://api.data.gov/signup/

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "ownership": "",
  "degreeType": "",
  "maxResults": 50
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

All matching schools as JSON objects with normalized fields.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Human-readable formatted table of search results.

## `stats` (type: `string`):

Machine-readable statistics about the search results.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "searchQuery": "",
    "state": "",
    "city": "",
    "maxResults": 50,
    "apiKey": ""
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("wakey7dev/college-scorecard-normalizer").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "searchQuery": "",
    "state": "",
    "city": "",
    "maxResults": 50,
    "apiKey": "",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("wakey7dev/college-scorecard-normalizer").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "searchQuery": "",
  "state": "",
  "city": "",
  "maxResults": 50,
  "apiKey": ""
}' |
apify call wakey7dev/college-scorecard-normalizer --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,wakey7dev/college-scorecard-normalizer"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/2WdSffWxfZuaaRHGC/builds/wMisofFTq25ObhxiP/openapi.json