Common Data Set
A standardized data report colleges publish annually with admissions, enrollment, financial aid, and outcomes data. The most authoritative public source.
The Common Data Set (CDS) is a standardized annual report that colleges publish on their institutional research websites. Created jointly by the College Board, U.S. News, and Peterson's, the CDS uses a uniform format across institutions, making it the single best apples-to-apples source for college admissions and outcomes data.
The CDS includes detailed admission statistics (applicants, admits, enrolled, by gender, in-state vs out-of-state), test score middle-50% ranges, GPA distributions, factor weighting in admission decisions, financial aid distribution, retention and graduation rates, and tuition and fees. Most colleges publish their CDS as a PDF; some include HTML versions.
For parents, the CDS is the gold-standard data source for any school under serious consideration. Solyo extracts the key numbers from each school's CDS to surface them in college pages, which lets parents compare admission selectivity, factor weighting, and outcomes side-by-side without hunting through individual PDFs.
Related terms
View all terms- Admission RateThe percentage of applicants a college admits in a given year. Calculated by dividing total admitted students by total applicants.
- Yield RateThe percentage of admitted students who choose to enroll at a college. A high yield signals strong applicant preference.
- Holistic ReviewAn admissions process that evaluates the whole applicant — grades, scores, essays, activities, character — rather than relying on numbers alone.
- Demonstrated InterestA measure of how strongly an applicant has shown interest in a specific college through visits, communication, and engagement. Some schools weigh it heavily.
- Early DecisionA binding early-application option that requires the student to enroll if admitted. Typically due in November with December notification.
- Early ActionA non-binding early-application option that returns a decision in December but lets students apply elsewhere and choose later.