What this does
The Contact us page sends a short message to the team that runs the site: a bug, a number that looks wrong, a feature you want, or a note. The page says: Found a bug, spotted bad data, want a feature, or just want to say hi? Drop us a note. We read every one.
Every page also has a Report a problem link in its footer. It opens an email in your own mail app, already addressed and with the page name in the subject.
Use them if you are a student who found a figure that looks off, a parent with a question the guide does not answer, or a counselor who wants a feature for working with students.
Before you start
- Messages are one-way. The form does not ask for your email address and the team cannot reply unless you write a way to reach you inside the message.
- Note what you saw. The page, the school or career, the state chosen in Showing data for, the figure you expected and the one you got. Specific examples help the team find the problem.
- Open the form from the page you have a question about. The form tries to fill in which page you were on.
- No state is needed. The contact page does not depend on the state you picked.
- Don't include private details you would not want in an email, such as account numbers.
Step by step
Send a message with the form
- Click Contact in the top menu bar or Contact Us in any page footer. The page opens with a box headed How your message is handled. and the form below it.
- Under What's this about?, choose a category.
- Check Which page were you on?. It is filled in from the page you came from; change it if it is wrong.
- Type your message in Your message. The counter below it counts up to 2000 characters and reminds you of the 20-character minimum.
- Answer the question next to Quick check, for example What is 4 plus 7? or Type the word 'human' to confirm. Numbers can be typed as digits or words.
- Click Send message. Sending… appears beside the button.
- When it goes through, the form is replaced by Thanks — we got your message. and a link ← Back to home.
Report a problem by email
- Scroll to the footer of the page with the problem and click Report a problem.
- Your email app opens a new message to the site's inbox. The subject reads Samantar beta, then the site version and the page's address path. The body has three headings: What happened:, What you expected: and Browser and device:.
- Fill in the three parts and send it from your own email. Because it comes from your address, the team can reply.
Every control explained
| Control | Where | What it changes | Default | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contact / Contact Us | Top menu bar; footer of every page | Opens the contact page. | — | Open it from the page you are writing about so the page menu fills in. |
| What's this about? | Form | The category: Bug — Something on the page looks wrong, Bug — A number or label looks wrong, Bug — A calculation looks wrong, Feature request, General feedback / Kind words, Other. | Choose one… (must be changed) | Not chosen: Please pick a category. |
| Which page were you on? | Form | The page your message is about: Home, Career detail, Career → Degrees, Careers list, ROI Calculator, Degrees list, Degree detail, Compare, Jobs Trends, Jobs History, How-To Guide, About, Privacy / Terms / Cookies, Other / not sure. | The page you came from, if it is in the list; otherwise Other / not sure | Pages not in the list (state pages, Non-Degree pages, My Reports) start at Other / not sure. Coming from any page of this guide it shows How-To Guide. Say which page in your message. Privacy / Terms / Cookies appears twice; either works. |
| Your message | Form | The text that is sent. | Empty | 20 to 2000 characters. Too short: Your message needs to be at least 20 characters. The box stops taking text at 2000. |
| Character counter | Under the message box | Read-only: characters typed, out of 2000. | 0 / 2000 characters · minimum 20 | — |
| Quick check | Form | Your answer to a simple question that keeps automated spam out. | Empty; the question shows Loading… until it arrives | Up to 64 characters; capitals don't matter. Empty: Please answer the spam-check question. No outside CAPTCHA service is used. |
| Send message | Form | Sends the message. | Active once the question has loaded | Turned off while sending, and if the question could not load. |
| ← Back to home | Thank-you box | Goes to the home page. | — | — |
| Report a problem | Footer of every page (on the contact page, the line at the bottom) | Opens a pre-addressed email in your mail app. | — | It needs a mail app set up on your device. Only the page's address path goes into the subject, never the settings in the address. |
| Showing data for | Not on the contact page | Nothing on this page. | — | Mention your state in the message if the problem depends on it. |
Reading the results
Messages after you click Send message
| Message | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Thanks — we got your message. | The message was accepted. The box adds that the team reads every message, will not reach out unless you included a way to contact you, and fixes reported bugs in the next release. | Nothing. |
| The spam-check answer didn't match. Please check it and send again. | The Quick check answer was wrong. Your message is still in the box. | Correct the answer and click Send message. |
| This form expired. We loaded a new spam-check question: answer it and send again. | The page was open for more than an hour. A new question has loaded and your message is kept. | Answer the new question and send. If the new question cannot load: This form expired. Please refresh the page. |
| Could not send right now — please try again in a few minutes. | The email service did not accept the message. Nothing was sent. | Wait and click Send message again; your message is kept. |
| Network error. Please try again in a moment. | Your connection dropped. | Try again. |
| Could not load the spam check — please refresh the page. | The question did not load, so the form cannot be sent. | Refresh the page, or use Report a problem. |
| Something went wrong. Please try again. | Any other failure. | Try again later, or use Report a problem. |
What is sent and what is stored
- Sent: a plain-text email to the site team's inbox, through Amazon Simple Email Service. Its subject names the category and the page; its body holds the category, the page and your message.
- Not stored: your message is not saved in any database and is not written to the logs. The form has no email or name field.
- Logged: the time, the category, the page you chose, whether the checks passed, and the email service's delivery reference.
- Kept for up to a day: to limit messages per sender, the site keeps a one-way scrambled version of your internet address (not the address itself) and the times you sent, for 24 hours. Each form's one-time code is kept for an hour so it cannot be reused.
- Not read: the form reads no cookies and nothing from your browser's storage.
- Report a problem sends nothing by itself. It only opens your mail app; what you send, and from which address, is up to you. The page's address path is in the subject, without any settings from the address bar.
Limits
- Messages are 20 to 2000 characters.
- Up to five messages per sender in 24 hours. After the fifth, the page still shows the thank-you box but the message is not delivered. Use Report a problem if you need to send more.
- A form open for more than an hour needs a new question (the page loads one for you).
- A message sent within a few seconds of the page loading is treated as automated and is not delivered, though the thank-you box shows.
- Both of these are held back silently on purpose, so automated senders can't tell they were stopped. The form warns about it under Send message: Repeated messages sent within a short time may not be delivered.
For how the site's figures are produced, which is often the answer to "this number looks wrong", see how the figures are produced.
Worked example
A counselor in Georgia notices that a career's entry salary on the ROI Calculator looks lower than on its career page.
- On the calculator, she clicks Contact Us in the footer. The contact page opens with Which page were you on? already set to ROI Calculator.
- Under What's this about? she picks Bug — A number or label looks wrong.
- In Your message she writes the state, the school, the degree, the career, both figures and where she saw each, and adds her work email so the team can reply. The counter shows a few hundred characters out of 2000.
- The Quick check asks a simple sum. She types the answer as a number and clicks Send message.
- Sending… appears, then the form is replaced by Thanks — we got your message.
- The team receives an email whose subject names the category and the calculator page, with her message in the body. Her email address reaches them only because she typed it in the message.
Had she wanted a reply from her own mailbox, she could instead have clicked Report a problem in the calculator's footer: her mail app would open a message with the calculator page in the subject and the three headings to fill in.
Common questions
- Will someone reply?
- Only if you put a way to reach you in the message. The form does not collect an email address. Report a problem comes from your own email, so a reply can go back to it.
- Why does "Which page were you on?" say "Other / not sure"?
- The form fills it in from the page you came from, and only some pages are in the list. Pick the closest page or leave it, and name the page in your message.
- Why is there a math question?
- It keeps automated spam out without sending your visit to an outside CAPTCHA service. The question changes each time the page loads.
- I typed the right answer and it says it didn't match.
- Check for extra words or a typo; the answer is a number (digits or words) or the word the question asks for. Your message stays in the box, so you can fix the answer and send again.
- Is my message kept?
- No. It goes straight to the team's inbox and is not stored by the site or written to its logs. Only the time, category and page are logged.
- Which should I use, the form or Report a problem?
- Use the form if you don't want to use your own email. Use Report a problem if you want a reply, want to attach a screenshot, or have already sent five messages today.
What this does NOT do
- It is not a help desk with tracked tickets, and it is not a place to get advice about your own education or career choices.
- It does not store your message, your email address or your internet address.
- It does not send you a copy of your message or a confirmation email.
- It does not let you attach files; use Report a problem for that.
- It does not need, or use, a sign-in. Signing in is only for saving reports.