Data Scope and Limitations
A useful comparison starts by saying what each fact actually measures. SkillPlum preserves source links and distinguishes institution, program, cohort, and occupation context.
How to read the directory
IPEDS and College Scorecard institution fields can describe a school as a whole. Annual tuition, graduation rate, enrollment, and similar figures are not the price or outcome of a particular named program.
Federal field-of-study outcomes group students by CIP code and credential level. They provide context for a broad cohort, not a promise about a specific offering or an individual graduate.
Bureau of Labor Statistics pay and outlook figures describe an occupation and geography. They are not a school graduate outcome, apprenticeship wage, or offer of pay.
Cost, duration, pay, application status, and deadlines are program facts only when a program or responsible agency source supports them. Otherwise SkillPlum labels them as estimates or unknown and directs you to the source.
Current safeguards
Composite quality scores are suspended
Legacy scores combined measures with different scopes and missing-data behavior. They are not shown or used as quality rankings while the evidence model is reviewed. Existing browse URLs remain available as non-ranked directories.
Generated is not verified
A generated or imported date does not prove a fact was checked against its responsible source. Missing source years, current intake, pay status, and licensing details remain unknown until source-checked.