Understand the college landscape.

What the snapshot covers

The catalog covers the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Branch campuses are separate records when IPEDS assigns separate UNITIDs. Directory facts come from the provisional IPEDS 2024 release, retrieved August 16, 2026. Catalog version 1.0.1 revalidates the existing snapshot; it does not turn the data into a live directory.

Reported subject families reflect completions from July 2023 through June 2024, including graduate awards. Enrollment bands are unavailable for 18 institutions, and subject-family labels are unavailable for 55. Unavailable information stays explicit and is never treated as zero.

How colleges are connected

Academic overlap finds up to six institutions at the same institution level that share leading reported subject families. The score is the number of shared families divided by the number of distinct families across the pair, also called Jaccard overlap. Straight-line distance and stable institution ID break ties.

Nearby finds up to six geographically close institutions using great-circle distance. These distances are not driving distances or travel times. State, institution level, academic area, and acceptance-rate filters constrain candidate connections. Name or city search filters the map and list, while selected and connected colleges may remain visible for context.

Map colors show public, private nonprofit, or private for-profit control. Alaska and Hawaii are repositioned insets for display; distance calculations use the original coordinates.

What acceptance rates mean

Fall 2024 acceptance rates are admitted applicants divided by applicants among first-time, degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates. Rates are available for 1,779 institutions; 2,123 have unavailable values. The display rounds to one decimal place, while filters use unrounded values.

Unavailable data does not mean a 0% or 100% rate and does not establish an open-admission policy. Genuine reported 0% and 100% values are preserved. These historical institution-level rates are not estimates of an individual student's admission chances.

Sources and limitations

• NCES IPEDS 2024 institution directory HD2024
• NCES IPEDS provisional admissions ADM2024 and completions C2024_A
• U.S. Census cartography through us-atlas 3.0.1

The source completion extraction appears to aggregate awards at multiple CIP hierarchy levels. Atlas uses the family labels, not completion totals or shares; relative ordering was not independently re-extracted. Subject mix does not establish academic quality, current program availability, or personal fit. Check an institution's official information before making decisions.

Common questions

Is College Atlas a college ranking or matching service?

No. It helps you explore similarities and geography. You decide which colleges and priorities warrant further research.

Is this the College Visit Planner?

No. Atlas is a separate explorer. It does not contain family accounts, decisions, visit plans, notes, or manually added schools.

Does the map need JavaScript or an internet connection?

The interactive map and filters need JavaScript in a current browser. The download is self-contained and can run offline; official source and college links need an internet connection when opened. This methodology page remains readable without JavaScript.

Where are my exploration choices stored?

Filters, selected colleges, and map position use browser storage for the current tab. Welcome dismissal is remembered in that browser. Choices are not sent to a server, and browsing still works if storage is unavailable.