What this does
Saved reports let you keep an ROI Calculator run, a comparison result or a career's list of degrees and come back to it. A saved report is a bookmark to the page, kept in your account on the site. When you open it again, the page runs with the latest data, so the numbers can change if the data has been updated.
The My Reports page lists what you have saved, up to five per category, and lets you reopen or delete each one. Saving is the only feature on the site that needs you to sign in; everything else works without an account.
It helps a student keep a short list of programs, a parent come back to the same run after a conversation, and a counselor keep the runs they want to talk through.
Before you start
- Sign in first. Signed out, the save button reads Sign in to save and opens the sign-in dialog; it saves nothing until you are signed in. Use Sign In in the top menu bar, or that button. If you sign in by email link, the link brings you back to the page you signed in from, with its settings.
- Know where the button is. The floating ☆ Save this report button sits at the bottom right of three public pages: the ROI Calculator (once results show), the comparison results page, and Degrees & Training for a career. On the last two it shows as soon as the page opens.
- Use the same browser. Your sign-in is kept in this browser only.
- Reports you save are kept for this sign-in. Once it expires, they can't be found again. The sign-in dialog says the same.
- The state you pick in "Showing data for" is part of what is saved: a report reopens in the state it was saved in.
Step by step
Sign in
- Click Sign In in the top menu bar (or Sign in on the My Reports page). A dialog opens: Sign in to Samantar, Sign in to save your results., with an email box and the line Reports you save are kept for this sign-in. Once it expires, they can't be found again. You stay on the same page.
- Type your email address and click Send sign-in link. The dialog says Check your email — link sent!
- Open the email titled Sign in to Samantar and click its link within 5 minutes. The link works once. A page says Signed in! Redirecting… and takes you back to the page you were on when you asked for the link (the home page if that page can't be known).
- The top menu now shows Account ▾ instead of Sign In. A tab you left open on a report updates by itself: its menu shows Account ▾ and its button reads ☆ Save this report.
Save a calculator run
- Open the ROI Calculator, make your choices and click Run 20-Year Projection.
- When the results show, a button appears at the bottom right: ☆ Save this report. Click it.
- The button changes to ★ Saved. Clicking it again removes the save.
- Each new run shows the button as ☆ Save this report again, so you can save several runs.
Save a comparison or a career's degree list
- Open a comparison result (press Compare Selected on Compare Careers, Compare Degrees or Compare Non-Degree Paths), or open Degrees that lead here → on a career page.
- The button at the bottom right shows at once. If this exact page address is already saved, it reads ★ Saved; otherwise ☆ Save this report. Click ☆ Save this report.
- The button changes to ★ Saved. A comparison goes to the ⚖️ Compare section, a career's degree list to 💼 Careers. Clicking ★ Saved removes the save.
Open My Reports
- Click Account ▾, then My Reports.
- The page shows four sections, each with a count such as 2 / 5 saved.
- Click a report's title to reopen it. It opens in the same tab and recalculates.
- To delete one, click ✕ on its card and confirm Remove this saved report? The card disappears and the count drops.
- To sign out, click Account ▾, then Sign Out.
- To delete every report saved under this sign-in at once, click Account ▾, then Delete my account and saved reports, and confirm. You are signed out.
Every control explained
| Control | Where | What it changes | Default | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sign In | Top menu bar, every page | Opens the sign-in dialog. | Shown when signed out | You stay on the page you were on. |
| Email box (your@email.com) | Sign-in dialog | Where the sign-in link is sent. | Empty | Empty: Enter your email address. |
| Send sign-in link | Sign-in dialog | Emails a one-time link. | — | The reply is the same whatever address you type. On a failure: Something went wrong. Try again. |
| × (Close) | Sign-in dialog | Closes the dialog. | — | Escape or a click outside the dialog also closes it. |
| Account ▾ | Top menu bar, when signed in | Opens a small menu with My Reports, Sign Out and Delete my account and saved reports. | — | — |
| My Reports | Account menu | Opens the My Reports page. | — | — |
| Sign Out | Account menu | Removes your sign-in from this browser. | — | Your saves stay on the server until they expire or you delete them. |
| Delete my account and saved reports | Account ▾ menu | Deletes every report saved under this sign-in and signs you out. | — | Asks Delete your account and all your saved reports? This can't be undone. first. Then Your account and saved reports were deleted. On a failure: Could not delete your account. Try again. |
| ☆ Save this report / ★ Saved | Floating, bottom right of the ROI Calculator (once results show), the comparison results page and Degrees & Training for a career | Saves the page to its category in My Reports; clicking ★ Saved deletes that save. | On the calculator, hidden until results show and reset to ☆ Save this report for each new run. On the other two pages, shown at once and reading ★ Saved if this exact page address is already saved. | Hidden in printouts. |
| Sign in to save | The same button, when you are signed out | Opens the sign-in dialog on the same page. | Shown where the save button would be: at once on the comparison and degree-list pages, once results show on the calculator | As soon as you are signed in, it turns into ☆ Save this report, with no reload, including in a tab left open while you used the email link in another. |
| Sign in | My Reports, when signed out | Opens the same sign-in dialog. | — | Shown with Sign in to view and manage your saved reports. |
| Report title link | Each report card on My Reports | Reopens the saved page. | — | The run recalculates with current data. |
| ✕ (Remove this saved report) | Each report card | Deletes the save after you confirm. | — | Cannot be undone. On a failure: Could not remove. Try again. |
| Save as PDF | Bottom right of the calculator and some results pages | Opens your browser's print dialog, where you can choose to save as PDF. | — | Not on My Reports; you can still print that page from the browser. |
| Report a problem | My Reports footer | Opens an email to the site team. | — | See Contact. |
| Showing data for | Top of the calculator and other data pages | The state the calculator runs in, which the saved address keeps. | Your last choice | My Reports itself has no state menu. |
Reading the results
| Item | Meaning | Unit | Source and year | How it is computed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 📊 ROI Calculator, 🎓 Degrees, 💼 Careers, ⚖️ Compare | The four categories of saved report. | — | Your account | Each category holds up to five saves. Calculator runs land in 📊 ROI Calculator, comparison results in ⚖️ Compare, and a career's list of degrees in 💼 Careers. Degrees saves are not offered from the public pages, so 🎓 Degrees normally shows its empty message. |
| N / 5 saved | How many slots in that category are used. | Count | Your account | Updates when you delete a card. |
| Report title | The name the report was saved under. | — | The page you saved from | For calculator runs it is the school, degree and career of the run, such as Rice University · Economics · Economists. Titles are at most 40 characters, so a long one is shortened: common words are abbreviated (Univ.) and each part may end in …. A comparison is saved as Comparison Results, so comparisons look alike too. A career's degree list is saved as "Degrees for career". |
| Saved date | When you saved it. | Month, day, year | Your account | Set at the moment of saving. |
| Empty message | No saves in that category, for example No saved roi calculator reports yet. | — | — | — |
| Note under the list | Reports are stored for 12 months from last save. Reopening a report refreshes it with the latest data. | — | — | Each save is kept for 12 months from the day you made it, then deleted in a nightly clean-up. Reopening does not extend it. |
What a reopened calculator run shows
A saved run reopens with the school, degree, degree level (including All) and career already chosen, and recalculates straight away. Every other input reopens at its default: residency (in-state), savings, loan amount and repayment term, in-school earnings, rent and living costs, cities, scenario and the raise, bump and promotion years. A stacked graduate run reopens as a single run of the graduate degree. If your original run used other settings, change them and click Recalculate.
Messages you may see
- Loading your reports… while My Reports loads.
- Sign in to view and manage your saved reports. when you are signed out.
- Could not load saved reports. Please sign in again. when your sign-in has run out (after one hour).
- Could not save report. Try again. when a save fails, for example because the connection dropped. If your sign-in has run out, the button opens the sign-in dialog instead.
- You already have 5 saved ROI Calculator reports. Remove one in My Reports to save another. (or Degrees, Careers or Compare) followed by Open My Reports to manage your saves? when the category is full. Choosing OK opens My Reports in a new tab.
- Could not remove saved report. Try again. when un-saving from the button fails.
What is stored
- For each save: a random account number the site made for you (not your name or email), the category, the title, the page address with its settings, the date saved and the date it expires.
- Your email address is used to send the sign-in link and is not stored.
- In your browser: the sign-in itself, kept in the site's local storage until you sign out or it expires. The calculator also keeps a copy of your last run's inputs and results in this browser's local storage; nothing of it is sent anywhere.
- No results are stored on the server: a reopened report is recalculated.
The print watermark
When you print a page or save it as a PDF, the site adds a faint, slanted watermark across every printed page, in three lines: samantar.us, NOT FOR COMMERCIAL USE and FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. It is added only while printing and removed afterwards, so you never see it on screen and a screenshot does not carry it. The first printed page also gets a header, samantar.us — Education & Career Research, and the menu bar, the save and PDF buttons and most other buttons are left out of the printout.
For how the calculator's numbers are produced, see how the figures are produced.
Worked example
A school counselor wants to keep three calculator runs for a meeting with a student.
- She opens the ROI Calculator, clicks Sign In and sends a link to her work address. The dialog says the link is on its way.
- She opens the email, clicks Sign in to Samantar, sees Signed in! Redirecting… and is back on the ROI Calculator with Account ▾ in the menu bar.
- She runs the first school and career, and clicks ☆ Save this report. It turns to ★ Saved.
- She picks a second school, runs again; the button is back to ☆ Save this report, and she saves again. Same for a third.
- She opens Account ▾ → My Reports. The 📊 ROI Calculator section reads 3 / 5 saved, with three cards, each titled with that run's school, degree and career and today's date.
- She clicks the first card. The calculator opens with the school, program, level and career set and shows the results at once, with residency and the other inputs at their defaults. She sets out-of-state residency again and clicks Recalculate for that student.
- After the meeting she deletes one run with ✕. The count reads 2 / 5 saved.
- The next week she signs in again by email. Her earlier saves are not there (see Common questions), so she reruns the two she still needs.
Common questions
- I signed in again and my reports are gone. Why?
- Reports you save are kept for this sign-in. Once it expires, they can't be found again.
- Why don't I see the save button?
- It is on three public pages only: the ROI Calculator, where it appears once results show, and the comparison results and Degrees & Training pages, where it shows when the page opens. Other pages, such as a career page or a degree page, have no save button. Signed out, the button reads Sign in to save. On the calculator, run the projection to make it appear.
- What happens when my sign-in runs out?
- A sign-in lasts one hour. After that the button reads Sign in to save and the menu bar shows Sign In again. If the hour ran out while the page was open, clicking ☆ Save this report opens the sign-in dialog instead of saving. Sign in again; the button turns back into ☆ Save this report without a reload, and you can save. My Reports likewise asks you to sign in.
- How is a calculator report titled?
- By the run's school, degree and career, separated by ·. A title holds at most 40 characters, so long names are shortened and end in …; reopen the report to see the full names.
- Why did my saved run come back with in-state tuition and no savings?
- A saved run keeps the school, degree, level and career. Residency, savings, the loan, living costs and the assumptions reopen at their defaults. Set them again and click Recalculate.
- Why are the numbers different from when I saved?
- Reports reopen with live data. If wages, tuition or rents were updated since you saved, the run uses the new figures.
- How long are reports kept?
- Twelve months from the day each one was saved. Expired saves are deleted overnight. Reopening a report does not reset the clock.
- Can I have more than five?
- No, five per category. Delete one in My Reports to make room.
- Why is the Degrees section always empty?
- Degrees saves are not offered from the public pages. The Careers section fills from a career's Degrees & Training list, and Compare from comparison results.
What this does NOT do
- It does not keep a copy of your results; reports are recalculated each time.
- It does not keep your inputs beyond the school, degree, level and career.
- It does not store your email, name or anything else about you. Signing in is needed only to save reports.
- It does not link sign-ins together: a new email-link sign-in starts a new, empty account.
- It does not let you rename reports, share them with another account, or download them as files; use Save as PDF or print for a copy.
- The reports are estimates, not advice and not guarantees.
Related
- Open My Reports
- ROI Calculator: running and reading a projection.
- Comparison results and Degrees for a career: the other two pages you can save from.
- Open the ROI Calculator
- Contact: reporting a problem with saving.
- Privacy and limits