College Scorecard

What College Scorecard does

College Scorecard provides MCP access to selected data about U.S. colleges and universities from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard API. Its two dedicated tools support a common research flow: find institutions by name, then request a more detailed record using the institution's College Scorecard ID.

search_schools accepts a school name and can use a state value such as MA to narrow the search. Results include the institution name and location, along with tuition, admission rate, student size, median earnings, and completion rate. get_school takes a College Scorecard ID and returns a more detailed set of fields, including tuition, admission rate, student size, median earnings after 10 years, completion rate, and median debt.

How it works

The hosted MCP endpoint is available at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/college-scorecard/mcp. It provides the College Scorecard tools through Pipeworx. A hosted pack endpoint also lists shared Pipeworx tools, including ask_pipeworx, discover_tools, search_within, and remember/recall. Those shared tools can route questions beyond the directly listed College Scorecard tools; the exact tool scope is returned during MCP initialization.

The same gateway also exposes the full catalog at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp. Both endpoints can reach the broader Pipeworx catalog through ask_pipeworx, but the pack endpoint lists College Scorecard tools directly while the full gateway lists the catalog's tools directly.

For clients that do not use MCP, hosted tools can be called over HTTP. For example, POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/search_schools accepts a JSON body containing a school query and state.

Setup and configuration

Add the hosted endpoint to an MCP client with a configuration like this:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "college-scorecard": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/college-scorecard/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Windsurf are listed as supported client options. Initial hosted calls do not require an account.

The package can also run as a local stdio server without a Pipeworx account or gateway round trip:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "college-scorecard": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-college-scorecard"]
    }
  }
}

Run npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-college-scorecard directly to start the process. The local process communicates through standard input and output and does not require environment variables.

Tools and capabilities

• search_schools: Finds U.S. colleges and universities by name, with an optional state filter. Returned fields include location, tuition, admission rate, student size, median earnings, and completion rate.
• get_school: Retrieves detailed information for a college identified by its College Scorecard ID, including median debt and earnings after 10 years.
• ask_pipeworx: On the hosted gateway connection, accepts a plain-language question and routes it to an appropriate catalog tool.
• HTTP access: Calls hosted tools through the Pipeworx /v1/tools/ API without an MCP client.

Limitations and notes

This is an independent, unofficial integration rather than a service published, endorsed, or affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education. The local stdio mode exposes only the two College Scorecard tools, whereas the hosted pack endpoint also adds shared Pipeworx meta-tools. If that additional hosted tool surface is undesirable, the local package avoids it; alternatively, the full gateway can be used when direct access to the wider catalog is needed.

The detailed lookup requires a College Scorecard ID, so a name-based workflow generally starts with search_schools. The available fields are limited to those returned by the two tools rather than a general-purpose query interface for every College Scorecard field.