Higher Ed, K–12 | Daily Report

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A new website launched this month weaves together multiple sources of education data into a single place, allowing parents, students and researchers to quickly size up schools.

The site, www.EdBudgetProject.org, includes information for both K-12 school districts and colleges. Every school and district page includes financial, demographic and academic achievement information.

"Despite national calls for improved access to data (by policymakers, researchers and the public, alike), much of today’s education data are still buried deep inside state and federal agencies or available in inaccessible formats," wrote Senior Policy Analyst Jennifer Cohen in an announcement about the newly released site.

Using the site, it's easy to see that tuition is more expensive at UC San Diego than at the Los Angeles or Berkeley campuses. UC Berkeley and UCLA also graduate more of their students in four years than the San Diego campus.

New America Foundation, Federal Education Budget Projectwww.EdBudgetProject.org

In addition to making your own comparisons, there is a comparison tool baked into the site that displays similar institutions based on a specific data point. For instance, tuition and fees will set you back at least $3,392 for a year at CSU Long Beach. Clicking on the comparison tool will display schools with similar tuition and fees, along with graphs showing the increase or decrease over time.

It's a powerful way to quickly size up schools and identify areas you want to investigate further, whether you are a parent, student or researcher.

The site is part of the New America Foundation's Federal Education Budget Project.