What this does
The Compare page is the starting point for every side-by-side comparison on the site. It does not show any numbers itself. It offers three comparisons, each as a card, and each card opens a page where you tick up to five items. When you press Compare Selected on that page, the site draws one results page with all your picks next to each other: salaries, a 20-year salary line, costs where they apply, and the universities that lead to each pick.
Use it when you are torn between a few options and want to see them on equal terms, on one screen, with the same assumptions. A student can line up three majors before choosing one. A parent can set a four-year degree's career next to a career you can enter without a degree. A counselor can show a student how a short certificate compares with a longer one.
The three comparisons, and the question each one answers:
| Card | The question it answers | You pick |
|---|---|---|
| Compare Degrees | "Which field of study pays off best: these majors or programs, side by side?" You see each degree's typical starting and mid-career pay across the careers it leads to, its typical yearly cost, how many universities in your state offer it, and the top universities for each. | Up to 5 degree fields, undergraduate, graduate or a mix |
| Compare Careers | "Which of these jobs pays more, and how hard is each one to reach?" You see each career's starting and median pay, how many universities have programs that lead to it, how many of those routes need no further degree, and the extra years of school they take. | Up to 5 careers |
| Compare Non-Degree Paths | "Which licence, certificate, paid academy or direct-entry route gets me earning fastest, and at what cost?" You see each route's pay, its direct cost, how many months it takes to start work and how long until the cost is paid back. | Up to 5 non-degree pathways |
Before you start
- Pick a state. Every comparison is built from one state's schools, programs and wages. If no state is chosen, the page shows Pick a state to see comparisons. and the Showing data for menu. Choose the state where you plan to study or work. United States is not offered here, because the comparisons need a state's schools.
- Know which kind of thing you want to compare. All the items in one comparison are the same kind: degrees with degrees, careers with careers, pathways with pathways. You cannot put a degree and a non-degree pathway in the same table. See Common questions for ways around that.
- Have two to five names in mind. One pick works, but a comparison is most useful with two or more. Five is the limit on every page.
- Nothing to sign in to. You can compare without an account.
Step by step
- Open Compare from the top menu, or from the Compare tile on the home page. The page shows the heading Compare and the line Choose the comparison path that matches the decision you are trying to make.
- If the page asks you to pick a state, choose one in Showing data for. The page reloads with the three cards.
- Read the three cards: Compare Degrees, Compare Careers and Compare Non-Degree Paths. Each card has one line saying what it compares.
- Click the card that matches your question. Its picker page opens with a search box, a filter and a list of items with check boxes.
- On the picker page, tick up to five items and press Compare Selected. The results page opens. The guide pages Compare degrees, Compare careers and Compare non-degree pathways walk through each picker, and Reading comparison results explains every number on the results page.
Arriving with a career or degree already chosen
Some pages send you to Compare with your current career or degree carried along:
- On Careers, once you have chosen a career, the Stack this against another career → card opens this page. When you then click Compare Careers, that career is already ticked in the list.
- On a career's detail page, Stack against another career → skips this page and opens Compare Careers with the career ticked.
- On a degree's detail page, Stack against another degree → skips this page and opens Compare Degrees with the degree ticked.
Every control explained
| Control | Where | What it changes | Default | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Showing data for | Above the page heading (inside the prompt card when no state is chosen) | Sets the state whose schools, programs and wages every comparison uses. Picking a state reloads the page. | The state you chose last, or Choose a state if you have not chosen one | Your choice is remembered in this browser and carried to the picker and results pages. |
| Compare Degrees card | First card in the grid | Opens the degree picker, where you choose up to 5 fields of study. | — | If you arrived with a degree in the address, it is passed along and ticked on the next page. |
| Compare Careers card | Second card | Opens the career picker, where you choose up to 5 careers. | — | If you arrived from a career, that career is passed along and ticked on the next page. |
| Compare Non-Degree Paths card | Third card | Opens the non-degree picker, where you choose up to 5 licences, certificates, paid academies or direct-entry routes. | — | Nothing is pre-ticked on this picker, even when you arrive from a career. |
| Compare in the top menu | Top navigation, on every page | Brings you back to this page from anywhere on the site. | — | On the picker and results pages it is highlighted, because they sit under Compare. |
Reading the results
This page has no results of its own. It shows only the three cards and their one-line descriptions:
| Item | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Compare up to 5 different degree programs side by side — salary trajectories, ROI, cost, and top universities for each. | The degree comparison. "ROI" here is a ratio of pay to yearly cost, explained on the results guide. "Top universities" are listed by outcome measures: earnings, completion and cost. |
| Compare up to 5 different jobs or career paths side by side. | The career comparison. |
| Compare licenses, certificates, paid academies, and direct-entry routes side by side. | The non-degree comparison. |
Every comparison draws on the same federal data as the rest of the site: wages from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS, May 2024), school costs and outcomes from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, and programs from NCES IPEDS. The results guide lists which source feeds each number. See also how the figures are produced.
Worked example
A school counselor in Ohio is meeting a student who likes both health care and computers and cannot decide between a nursing degree, a computer science degree and a medical assistant certificate.
- The counselor opens Compare and picks Ohio in Showing data for. The three cards appear.
- The two degrees belong together, so the counselor clicks Compare Degrees, ticks the nursing and computer science fields and presses Compare Selected. The results page shows both degrees with their typical starting and median pay, yearly cost, the number of Ohio universities that offer each, and the top three Ohio universities for each.
- The certificate is a non-degree route, so it cannot join that table. The counselor returns to Compare, clicks Compare Non-Degree Paths, searches for the medical assistant route and ticks one or two of the listed programs. The results show each route's cost, months to start work and months to pay the cost back.
- To set the destination jobs side by side, the counselor opens Compare Careers, ticks registered nurse, software developer and medical assistant, and sets Feeder degree type to All so that careers reached without a degree can be compared too.
The student now has three views: degree against degree, route against route, and job against job. None of them is a recommendation. They show the trade-offs: time, cost and pay.
Common questions
- Can I compare a degree against a non-degree pathway in one table?
- No. Each comparison holds one kind of item. The closest you can get is Compare Careers: set Feeder degree type to All and tick careers that people usually reach with a degree alongside careers that need none. Or run a Compare Degrees and a Compare Non-Degree Paths one after the other and read them together.
- Can I compare one degree at several universities?
- Not on the Compare page; its three modes compare careers, degrees or non-degree pathways with their own kind. To see one degree at several universities, open Degrees, choose the degree, and read its list of universities on the degree's page. Each Compare Degrees result also lists the top three universities for each degree you pick.
- Why does the page ask me to pick a state?
- Comparisons are built from one state's universities, programs and wages. Without a state there is nothing to compare, so the page waits for your choice.
- Why five at most?
- Charts and tables stay readable with up to five items, and each item gets its own colour. The picker pages stop you at five and ask you to untick one before adding another.
- I changed state and my comparison changed or failed. Why?
- Programs, careers and wages are different in each state, and some items exist in one state's data but not another's. A comparison opened in a different state recalculates with that state's data, and may report that an item has no data there.
- Do I need an account?
- No. Comparing is open to everyone. An account is only for saving reports.
What this does NOT do
- It is not a job board and not a school application tool. Nothing here connects you to an employer or a school.
- It is not advice. The comparisons show expected financial outcomes under standard assumptions. They do not predict your own results, do not know your preferences or where you can live, and do not weigh non-financial factors such as lifestyle, family or ties to a place. Use them to start a conversation, not to end it.
- All figures are estimates from historical data, not guarantees.
- It stores nothing about you. Your picks live only in the page address while you use them.
- It does not compare a degree with a non-degree pathway in one table, and it does not offer a comparison of one degree across several universities.
Related
- Compare degrees — the degree picker, step by step.
- Compare careers — the career picker, step by step.
- Compare non-degree pathways — the pathway picker, step by step.
- Reading comparison results — every chart, badge and column on the results page.
- Choosing a state — how Showing data for works.
- ROI Calculator — where the results page sends you to run one school and program in detail.
- Live page: Compare.