Methodology and data sources

Programs and schools

We use the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard Field of Study and Institution files (release dated October 15, 2026). We keep undergraduate certificate and associate-degree programs in 19 trade and allied-health CIP families at schools that are currently operating: 21,036 program rows at 3,531 schools.

Fields shown

Earnings (median annual earnings one year after completion, workers not enrolled), median federal debt of borrowers, estimated monthly payment, completers, and, at the school level, net price, completion rate and ten-year median earnings. We do not show loan default rates because the Scorecard's three-year default rate is reported as zero for nearly every school in our set (3,141 of 3,162 with a value), which would mislead. Values suppressed by the Department appear as “not reported.”

Rankings

“Best-paying” lists sort by reported one-year earnings among programs with at least 10 earners reported. National and state figures are medians of program-level values, not weighted by enrollment. Comparisons say “above” or “below” the national median of the same field.

CDL schools

The FMCSA Training Provider Registry location list (as of October 28, 2026). We keep active, in-person locations not limited to private enrollment where Class A or Class B theory, range and public-road training are all offered, and remove 643 locations whose names indicate districts, agencies or similar organizations training their own people. We do not publish provider email addresses. The registry does not include prices or outcomes.

Page rules

School pages with fewer than three data points are marked noindex. State and city pages exist only where at least three programs match.

Corrections

If a figure looks wrong, compare it to the Scorecard first; if we made an error, tell us.