College ROI
Find out what a degree actually costs, before you sign for it.
Sticker price is not the price, and a prestigious name is not a salary. Compare schools on what you would really pay, what you would likely borrow, and what graduates of that program actually earn.
Overview
Choosing a school is, financially, one of the largest decisions most people ever make, and it is usually made at seventeen with worse information than you would get buying a used car.
Cipili puts the three numbers that matter side by side: net cost after aid, the debt you would likely carry, and the earnings of people who finished that program. Then it shows what repayment looks like on those earnings.
School figures in the app come from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.
Key benefits
Net cost, not sticker price
What a school lists and what a student actually pays are different numbers. The comparison uses cost after typical aid, which is the figure that will show up in your life.
Real earnings by program
Earnings differ more between programs at one school than between schools. Where the data supports it, comparisons are drawn at program level, not just institution level.
Repayment made concrete
A loan balance is abstract. A monthly payment against a realistic starting salary is not. Cipili shows the second one.
Official data, cited
School figures come from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard. Every number carries its source, and a number without a citable source does not ship.
College return on investment
ROI here means something specific: the cost you take on, set against the earnings the degree is associated with, over a horizon you choose. Cipili shows the inputs and the arithmetic. It does not reduce a school to a single grade, because the answer genuinely depends on the program, the aid you get, and what you intend to do afterward.
Salary comparisons
Compare typical graduate earnings across the schools and programs you are weighing, and see how much of a difference the choice actually makes. Sometimes it is decisive. Often, between two similar programs, it is smaller than the cost gap, and that is worth knowing before you commit.
Career planning
Cipili connects the degree to what comes after: the earnings path typical for that field, what it implies for repayment, and how that fits the rest of your financial picture. Earning more is half of the equation, and it usually gets less attention than spending less.
Education decisions
In-state against out-of-state. Two years at a community college first. A cheaper school with a strong program against a famous one with a weak one. These are comparisons, not verdicts. Cipili lays out what each path costs and what it tends to return, and leaves the decision where it belongs.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an account to compare colleges?
No. The college explorer is open to anyone, with no sign-up and nothing stored. It is free, deliberately, because the people who most need it are usually still in high school.
Where does the school data come from?
The U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard, the official federal dataset on cost, completion, and earnings. Each figure is stored with its source.
Can Cipili tell me which college to attend?
No. It shows you what each option costs and what graduates of it tend to earn. Fit, distance, and what you want to do with your life are yours to weigh.
Does it cover financial aid and scholarships?
Comparisons use cost after typical aid, so the figures reflect what students at that school generally pay rather than the published sticker price. Your own aid offer is the number that ultimately counts.
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Onboarding asks for your age, income, goals, and rough balances. Ranges are fine, and it never asks for account numbers. Your Financial Score is free.
Cipili provides financial education, comparisons, and estimates based on the information you provide. It does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice, and is not a registered investment adviser or fiduciary. Estimates rest on stated assumptions and are not guarantees of future results.