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rscorecard

R build status GitHub release CRAN_Status_Badge

This package is an R wrapper for the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard API. It allows users to select and filter Scorecard variables with piped commands a la dplyr.

Installation

Install the latest released version from CRAN with

install.packages("rscorecard")

Install the latest development version from Github with

devtools::install_github("btskinner/rscorecard")

This package relies on the Scorecard data dictionary, so I will attempt to update it in a timely fashion whenever new Scorecard data are released. Because it sometimes takes a few days to get a package on CRAN, you may want to download the developmental version in the days immediately following a data update.

Usage

Set API key

Get your Data.gov API key at https://api.data.gov/signup/. Save your key in your R environment at the start of your R session using sc_key():

## use your real key in place of the Xs
sc_key('xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx')

Request data 

library(rscorecard)

df <- sc_init() |> 
    sc_filter(region == 2, ccbasic == c(21,22,23), locale == 41:43) |> 
    sc_select(unitid, instnm, stabbr) |> 
    sc_year("latest") |> 
    sc_get()

## Request complete!

df

## # A tibble: 6 x 4
##   unitid instnm                                                  stabbr year  
##    <int> <chr>                                                   <chr>  <chr> 
## 1 191676 Houghton College                                        NY     latest
## 2 194392 Paul Smiths College of Arts and Science                 NY     latest
## 3 196051 SUNY Morrisville                                        NY     latest
## 4 197230 Wells College                                           NY     latest
## 5 214625 Pennsylvania State University-Penn State New Kensington PA     latest
## 6 214643 Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Wilkes-Barre   PA     latest

For more example calls and information about other package commands, see the extended vignette.

Data dictionary

To look up information about data elements, use the sc_dict() function.

sc_dict("control")

## 
## ---------------------------------------------------------------------
## varname: control                                        source: IPEDS
## ---------------------------------------------------------------------
## DESCRIPTION:
## 
## Control of institution
## 
## VALUES: 
## 
## 1 = Public
## 2 = Private nonprofit
## 3 = Private for-profit
## 1 = Public
## 2 = Private nonprofit
## 3 = Private for-profit
## 4 = Foreign
## 
## CAN FILTER? Yes
## 
## 
## ---------------------------------------------------------------------
## varname: schtype                                          source: FSA
## ---------------------------------------------------------------------
## DESCRIPTION:
## 
## Control of institution, per PEPS
## 
## VALUES: 
## 
## 1 = Public
## 2 = Private, Nonprofit
## 3 = Proprietary
## 
## CAN FILTER? No
## 
## ---------------------------------------------------------------------
## Printed information for 2 of out 2 variables.

Further references