Google will add federal college data to search results

Google will now display information from the administration’s “College Scorecard” when users search for a school, Secretary of Education John King said on Friday.

“We’re thrilled that starting today you can find college cost, graduation and earnings information from the College Scorecard directly in Google Search,” King said in a blog post hosted by the company. “Hundreds of millions of students and families pursue their college questions through Google, where trillions of searches are made every year.”

{mosads}“By featuring this data front and center, Google is helping more students and families get the information they need when they need it.”

An updated college scorecard was released by the federal government in 2015. When it was first released in 2013, the Department of Education said that the scorecard highlighted the “key indicators about the cost and value of institutions across the country to help students choose a school that is well-suited to meet their needs, priced affordably, and is consistent with their educational and career goals.”

A screenshot of Google’s new feature shows that, if somebody searches for a university or college, they will see information about its average cost for students on financial aid and the average salary of its graduates.

Google has increasingly worked civically minded information into its search result pages. That includes providing users with information about when, and how, they can register to vote. They’ve also incorporated information about the presidential candidates’ positions into their result pages.