College Scorecard vs College Scorecard MCP Server
A side-by-side look at the College Scorecard and College Scorecard MCP Server MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose College Scorecard for education work as a local process; choose College Scorecard MCP Server for education as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose College Scorecard when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Education domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
search_schools, get_school.
Choose College Scorecard MCP Server when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Education domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
SCORECARD_API_KEY. - You want tools like
scorecard_search_schools, scorecard_get_school, scorecard_compare_schools.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Education | Education |
| Quality signal | 52/100 · Good | 56/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | SCORECARD_API_KEY |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 0 | 1 |
| Directory activity | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 2 | 9 |
| Full listing | View College Scorecard | View College Scorecard MCP Server |
Tools & capabilities
College Scorecard tools 2
search_schoolsSearch US colleges and universities by name. Returns school name, location, tuition, admission rate, student size, median earnings, and completion rate. Example: search_schools("MIT", "MA").get_schoolGet detailed info for a specific college by its College Scorecard ID. Returns tuition, admission rate, student size, median earnings after 10 years, completion rate, and median debt.
College Scorecard MCP Server tools 9
scorecard_search_schoolsSearch institutions by name, location, type, size, acceptance rate, and single-sex flags; sort by supported API fields. Returns core identity and cost metrics.scorecard_get_schoolFull institutional profiles — costs, admissions, outcomes, aid, demographics, single-sex flags, and completion rates.scorecard_compare_schoolsNormalized side-by-side comparison of 2–5 schools on a named topic. Returns metric values, ordinal ranks, and a comparison summary.scorecard_get_programsField-of-study programs at one school: median 1-year earnings, cumulative Stafford/Grad PLUS debt, and IPEDS awards in the two pooled debt-cohort years.scorecard_search_programsFind programs by CIP and credential or keyword, retain degree identity, and rank earnings within each fetched school page.scorecard_get_earningsEarnings of federally aided undergraduate entrants working and not enrolled, regardless of completion: 6/8/10-year medians, 6/10-year P25/P75, and non-male/male 6-year medians.scorecard_value_analysisWorkflow tool: parallel-fetches cost, debt, repayment, and earnings data, then computes ROI metrics — debt-to-earnings ratio and net price to earnings ratio.scorecard_lookup_cipSearch 186 curated NCES CIP 2020 four-digit groups by code, keyword, or verified descendant alias. Served offline.scorecard_list_fieldsSearch the Scorecard field catalog by keyword. Returns matching field paths, descriptions, data types, and sort support. Use before passing custom `fields` parameters.
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
College Scorecard
{
"mcpServers": {
"college-scorecard": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@pipeworx/mcp-college-scorecard"
]
}
}
}
College Scorecard MCP Server
{
"mcpServers": {
"college-scorecard-mcp-server": {
"command": "bunx",
"args": [
"@cyanheads/college-scorecard-mcp-server@latest"
],
"env": {
"SCORECARD_API_KEY": "YOUR_SCORECARD_API_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
College Scorecard is categorized under Education and uses a local stdio subprocess. College Scorecard MCP Server belongs to Education and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick College Scorecard for education work and College Scorecard MCP Server for education.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
College Scorecard has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. College Scorecard MCP Server has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add college-scorecard and college-scorecard-mcp-server as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, College Scorecard has a quality signal of 52/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars. College Scorecard MCP Server has 56/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 1 GitHub stars.
