What this does
The home page opens with eight tiles, one for each part of Samantar. Each tile has a short heading and one or two sentences about what you will find behind it. Click anywhere on a tile to go there. There is no required order: pick the tile that matches the question you are asking.
This page lists every tile word for word, says where it takes you, and describes what you see when you arrive. It helps a student deciding where to begin, a parent who wants the money side first, and a counselor who needs to point someone at the right tool quickly.
Below the tiles, in the same box, is a short note that reads: Important: Samantar is a research and decision-support tool. We are not a job board, do not host job applications, and do not recruit. Job posting data is sampled to surface market trends and outlooks. Nothing on this site is financial, legal, or career advice — see the disclaimer in the footer.
Before you start
- Pick your state first if you can. Above the page title is a menu labelled Showing data for. Choose the state where you live, plan to study or plan to work. Seven of the eight tiles lead to pages that show schools, careers and pay one state at a time. If you have not picked a state, those pages open on a short card asking you to choose one.
- United States is fine for a first look. With United States chosen, the home page shows the national overview below the tiles. Once you pick a state, every tile carries that state with it, and the overview turns into a side-by-side of your state and the whole country. Choosing a state explains the menu in full.
- Have a question in mind. A career you are curious about, a degree field, a school, or a choice between two paths. The tile you start from depends on which of these you already know.
- No account is needed. Every tile works without signing in. Signing in is only for saving ROI Calculator reports.
Step by step
- Open the home page by clicking Home in the top menu. The page shows the Showing data for menu, the title Samantar™ — See the trade‑offs clearly, and the eight tiles in a grid (two or more per row on a wide screen, one per row on a phone).
- In Showing data for, choose your state. The page reloads. The tiles look the same, but each one now opens its page for that state, and the overview below the tiles changes to your state next to the U.S.
- Read the tile headings: How-To Guide, Careers, Degrees, Compare, Jobs Trends, ROI Calculator, Non-Degree Pathways and Schools/Universities With No Tuition Data.
- Click the tile that fits your question. The table in the next section says where each tile goes and what you see on arrival.
- If you skipped step 2, a state-based page opens on a card titled Pick a state to see … (for example Pick a state to see careers and pay.) with the same Showing data for menu. Choose a state there and the page loads for it.
- To come back, click Home in the top menu. Your state is remembered, so the tiles still carry it.
Every control explained
Every tile is a single link: the whole box is clickable, and there is nothing else inside it to press. The tile text below is exactly what appears on screen.
| Control | Where | What it changes | Default | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| How-To Guide tile: “Start here. What every page does, what data feeds it, and what it is not.” | Home page, first tile | Opens the How-To Guide home page, the list of every guide page grouped by feature, with a menu down the side. | None | The guide pages also show Showing data for, so you can switch state while reading. Their text is the same for every state. |
| Careers tile: “Search any career — by title, license, or credential (CPA, RN, BCBA, PMP, CDL-A, …) — and see the universities offering the best modeled path. Now with 62,900+ alternate titles indexed.” | Home page, second tile | Opens List Of Careers: a search box and a list of careers for your state. Typing a job title, a license or a credential finds the matching career. | Needs a state | Without a state you see Pick a state to see careers and pay. first. |
| Degrees tile: “Choose a degree program and see which universities in the selected state offer the strongest ROI for it. Also: which careers that degree opens up.” | Home page, third tile | Opens List Of Degrees: degree fields you can search and filter by level. Picking one opens the schools in your state that offer it. | Needs a state | Without a state you see Pick a state to see degree programs. |
| Compare tile: “Compare careers, degrees or non-degree pathways side by side.” | Home page, fourth tile | Opens Compare, which asks you to choose a path: Compare Degrees, Compare Careers or Compare Non-Degree Paths. Each lets you pick up to five choices. | Needs a state | Without a state you see Pick a state to see comparisons. |
| Jobs Trends tile: “Not a job board, not an application page. A sample of current postings broken down by experience, industry, metro, employer, and cert/license flags.” | Home page, fifth tile | Opens Jobs Trends: pay, postings, outlook and history for a career in your state, with a metro area picker. | Needs a state | Without a state you see Pick a state to see jobs trends. The postings are a sample used to show trends; you cannot apply to jobs here. |
| ROI Calculator tile: “What will your degree actually pay? Tuition + aid + projected earnings + loan repayment, modeled out 10 years.” | Home page, sixth tile | Opens the calculator, whose title is What will your degree actually pay? You pick a school and a degree program, and it projects cost, earnings and loan repayment. | Needs a state | Without a state you see Pick a state to see the ROI calculator. |
| Non-Degree Pathways tile: “Certificates, associate degrees, licenses and jobs you can start without a degree.” | Home page, seventh tile | Opens List Of Non‑Degree Pathways: careers you can enter without a four-year degree. Picking one shows every non-degree route into it, ranked by salary, direct cost and speed to entry. | Needs a state | Without a state you see Pick a state to see non-degree pathways. |
| Schools/Universities With No Tuition Data tile: “Browse the institutions excluded from ROI calculations because tuition data is not available yet.” | Home page, eighth tile | Opens a page of the same name listing the schools in your state that are left out of ROI rankings and the calculator because no usable tuition figure exists for them yet. | Needs a state | Without a state you see Pick a state to see schools with no tuition data. If a school you expected is missing from the calculator, check here. |
| Showing data for menu | Above the page title, below the top menu | Sets the state every tile carries. Picking a state reloads the home page for that state; picking United States returns to the national view. | United States, until you pick a state | Your pick is remembered on this device. See Choosing a state. |
| Top menu (Home, How-To Guide, Careers, Degrees, Compare, Jobs Trends, ROI Calculator, Non-Degree, Contact, Sign In) | Top of every page | The same destinations as the tiles, plus the contact page and the sign-in button. Like the tiles, these links carry your state. | None | Sign In is only needed to save reports. It does not change what any tile shows. |
Reading the results
The tiles themselves hold no numbers. Each one is a heading and a description. The figures they lead to are explained on each feature's own guide page.
| Item | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Tile heading (bold) | The name of the page the tile opens. It matches the name in the top menu, except that the menu shortens Non-Degree Pathways to Non-Degree, and the last tile has no menu entry. |
| Tile description | A one-line summary of the page. “62,900+ alternate titles” on the Careers tile is the number of other job titles the career search recognises, so you can type the name you know a job by. |
| “in the selected state” (Degrees tile) | The state chosen in Showing data for. Degree results only ever cover one state at a time. |
| “modeled out 10 years” (ROI Calculator tile) | The calculator projects costs and earnings over ten years after you start. It is a projection from past data, not a forecast for you. |
| Pick a state to see … card | What a tile opens on when no state is chosen, followed by the line “Schools, careers and pay on this page are shown one state at a time. Choose a state below and the page will load for it.” and the state menu. Nothing else on the page loads until you choose. |
| Overview below the tiles | With United States, the section U.S. labor market at a glance; with a state, your state vs U.S. (for example “Ohio vs U.S.”). See National overview. |
For where the figures behind each tile come from, see how the figures are produced.
Worked example
A school counselor in Ohio is helping a student who wants to work in health care but is not sure about a four-year degree.
- She opens the home page. Showing data for reads United States, and below the tiles is the U.S. overview with national lists of fast-growing and top-paying careers.
- She picks Ohio in the menu. The page reloads, the address bar now names Ohio, and the overview below the tiles becomes Ohio vs U.S.
- She clicks the Careers tile. List Of Careers opens for Ohio straight away, with no state card, because the tile carried Ohio.
- She types a nursing credential into the search and opens the career that matches. The page shows that career's pay and the Ohio schools that lead to it.
- Back on the home page, she clicks Non-Degree Pathways to see routes that do not need a bachelor's degree. The list opens for Ohio. She opens a health care career there and sees each certificate or license route with its time, cost and pay.
- To put two paths side by side, she clicks Compare, then Compare Non-Degree Paths.
At no point did she sign in, and every page stayed on Ohio because the choice was made once, at the top.
Common questions
- I clicked a tile and only see “Pick a state to see …”. Is the page broken?
- No. Seven of the tiles open pages that show schools, careers and pay one state at a time. With no state chosen, they show that card and the state menu instead. Choose a state and the page loads.
- Why does the How-To Guide tile not ask for a state?
- The guide explains how the site works, and that is the same in every state. It shows the state menu so you can change state while you read, but its text does not change.
- Do the tiles change when I pick a state?
- The words stay the same. What changes is where they lead: each tile now opens its page for the state you picked. The overview below the tiles also changes from the U.S. view to your state next to the U.S.
- Which tile should I start with?
- If you know the career, start with Careers. If you know the degree field, start with Degrees. If you know the school and the degree and want the money picture, go to ROI Calculator. If you are weighing options, try Compare. If a four-year degree is not the plan, try Non-Degree Pathways.
- Can I apply for jobs from the Jobs Trends tile?
- No. Jobs Trends shows a sample of current postings to describe the job market. There are no job applications and no recruiting on Samantar.
- Why is a school I know missing from the calculator?
- It may have no usable tuition figure yet. Open the Schools/Universities With No Tuition Data tile to check.
- Do I need an account for any tile?
- No. Every tile works without one. Signing in only lets you save reports to My Reports: ROI Calculator runs, comparison results and a career's list of degrees.
What this does NOT do
- It is not a job board. No tile leads to job applications or recruiting.
- It is not advice. The tiles lead to estimates built from public data, not recommendations for you.
- The figures behind the tiles are estimates, not guarantees.
- Nothing about you is stored to use the tiles. Your state choice stays in your own browser; sign-in is only for saving reports.
- The tiles do not combine states. Each data page shows one state at a time.
Related
- Choosing a state: the Showing data for menu.
- National overview: the section below the tiles.
- Guide pages for each tile: Careers, Degrees, Compare: picking a mode, Jobs Trends, ROI Calculator, Non-Degree Pathways, Schools without tuition data.
- Privacy and limits.
- The live page: Home.