College Aid

An MCP server that combines the US College Scorecard (Dept of Education) and CareerOneStop Scholarship Finder (Dept of Labor) so you can ask Claude to research colleges and matching scholarships in one conversation.

What it can do

search_colleges — search colleges by name, state, degree type, or max tuition. Returns for each school:

• In-state / out-of-state tuition
• Median debt at graduation
• Median earnings 10 years after entry
• 4-year graduation rate
• Admission rate

search_scholarships — search 9,500+ scholarships and grants. Filter by keyword, state, study level. Returns award amount, deadline, provider, and direct link.

find_similar_colleges — given a reference school, generate a reach/target/safety list of alternatives with similar Carnegie classification. Filters by admission rate windows (reach = more selective, target = ±7%, safety = less selective), then sorts each bucket by earnings, tuition, or closest match. Falls back to adjacent Carnegie tiers if a bucket returns too few results.

compare_colleges — side-by-side comparison table for 2–5 schools. Runs all lookups in parallel and returns a single markdown table across 18 metrics: location, type, acceptance rate, SAT/ACT ranges, in-state/out-of-state tuition, net price at 3 income brackets, median debt, Pell rate, 4-yr grad rate, retention, 10-yr earnings, and first-gen student share.

search_careers — search careers by job title or keyword using CareerOneStop/O*NET data. Returns for each occupation:

• Annual salary percentiles (P25 / median / P75 / P90), nationally and by state
• Bright job outlook flag (above-average growth or openings)
• Typical education required
• Key job tasks

estimate_loan_repayment — pure computation, no API key needed. Given a loan balance and expected salary, calculates:

• Standard 10-year plan: monthly payment, total interest
• Extended 25-year plan: lower monthly cost, higher total interest
• Income-driven repayment (IDR): payment as % of discretionary income, forgiveness after 20 years if balance remains
• Debt-to-income health check and a recommendation on which plan makes sense

get_college_details — deep dive on a single school. Returns:

• Net price broken down by family income bracket ($0–30k, $30–48k, $48–75k, $75–110k, $110k+)
• SAT/ACT score ranges (25th–75th percentile)
• Acceptance rate, enrollment, 1st-year retention, 4-year graduation rate
• First-generation student share, Pell grant rate
• Median debt at graduation and 10-year earnings
• Institution type, Carnegie classification, locale

search_by_major — compare the same major across schools using program-specific data, not school-wide averages. Supports 60+ major aliases (e.g. "cs", "nursing", "mechanical engineering") or raw 4-digit CIP codes. Returns for each school:

• Program-specific 4yr median earnings (vs. national benchmark for that program)
• Program-specific median student debt
• In-state tuition
• Sortable by earnings, debt, or tuition

Example prompts

• "Find CS-focused universities in Washington state with tuition under $15k and show me STEM scholarships I could apply to as a high schooler."
• "Compare median debt vs earnings for the top 10 engineering schools."
• "Find first-generation college student scholarships in California."
• "Rank nursing bachelor programs in Texas by earnings — which schools beat the national median?"
• "Show me mechanical engineering programs sorted by lowest debt in the midwest."
• "Get full details for Georgia Tech — what would I actually pay if my family earns $60k/year?"
• "Compare Georgia Tech and Carnegie Mellon on net price, SAT ranges, and 10-year earnings."
• "I'll graduate with $28k in debt and expect to earn $55k — show me my repayment options."
• "Find CS programs in California sorted by lowest debt, then estimate repayment for the top school."
• "I'm targeting University of Washington — give me reach, target, and safety alternatives sorted by lowest cost."
• "Compare MIT, Stanford, Georgia Tech, and Carnegie Mellon side by side on cost, debt, and earnings."
• "What do software engineers actually earn in Washington state, and which CS programs give the best shot at hitting P75 salary?"
• "Compare nursing salaries in Texas vs nationally, then find nursing programs with the lowest debt."

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Setup

1. Get API keys (both free)

College Scorecard API key

1. Go to api.data.gov/signup
2. Register — you'll receive a key by email immediately
3. Set as env var: COLLEGE_SCORECARD_API_KEY=your_key

CareerOneStop API credentials

1. Go to api.careeronestop.org/api-explorer
2. Register for a free account
3. You'll receive a User ID and Token
4. Set as env vars: CAREERONESTOP_USER_ID=your_user_id and CAREERONESTOP_TOKEN=your_token

2. Install

git clone https://github.com/Fusingchart/college-aid-mcp.git
cd college-aid-mcp
npm install
npm run build

3. Configure Claude Desktop

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json (usually at ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "college-aid": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/college-aid-mcp/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "COLLEGE_SCORECARD_API_KEY": "your_scorecard_key",
        "CAREERONESTOP_USER_ID": "your_user_id",
        "CAREERONESTOP_TOKEN": "your_token"
      }
    }
  }
}

4. Configure Claude Code

claude mcp add college-aid \
  -e COLLEGE_SCORECARD_API_KEY=your_key \
  -e CAREERONESTOP_USER_ID=your_user_id \
  -e CAREERONESTOP_TOKEN=your_token \
  -- node /absolute/path/to/college-aid-mcp/build/index.js

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Data sources

Source	Provider	Cost
College Scorecard API	US Dept of Education	Free
CareerOneStop Scholarship Finder	US Dept of Labor	Free