How the Worth-It Score works

The CollegeLens Worth-It Score is a first pass affordability signal. It is built to answer one question quickly: does the cost path for a given school look workable for a typical student before you have your personalized aid picture in hand?

The model weighs affordability at 40%, after graduation outcomes at 40%, and repayment burden at 20%. Affordability reflects yearly net price and expected total program cost. Outcomes reflect graduation and long-run earnings where available. Repayment reflects the relationship between debt and expected income.

The public school pages use publicly available federal higher education data plus national average assumptions. Your personalized dashboard score is more precise because it uses your own school list, aid details, and intended major where available.