Field of study

Field of study is the College Scorecard unit that pairs one institution, one four-digit CIP code, and one credential level. Federal earnings and debt attach to that triple, not to a campus brand. An MBA in 52.02 is a different field from a master’s in 52.13 at the same school (Scorecard FOS documentation).

Is “the MBA” one Scorecard field?+

No. Scorecard does not have an MBA flag. It has CREDLEV 5 (master’s) plus a four-digit CIP at a UNITID / OPEID6. Two “MBA” brands can sit in 52.02 and 52.13. Six-digit CIP on the I-20 is a different grain: STEM OPT reads six digits; Scorecard rolls them to four so cells are large enough to publish.

Scorecard field vs CIP vs employment report

Object	Grain	Who is in it	Source / date
Field of study	School + 4-digit CIP + credential	Title IV-aided completers	ED FOS docs
CIP code	2 / 4 / 6 digits	Taxonomy, not a cohort	NCES CIP 2020
CSEA class	Program year, seekers	People who looked for jobs	CSEA VII
Institution Scorecard	Whole UNITID	Mixes programs and levels	ED institution file

The consumer site shows completer counts, median earnings, debt at the reference school, and debt at any school attended. Download files add EVAL vs ANY debt, Pell/sex splits, and means. Small cells are suppressed, not zero.

Example: a full-time MBA reports 52.0201 to IPEDS. Scorecard files it as 52.02 × master’s at that OPEID6. One-year median earnings describe aided completers who worked and were not enrolled — not last spring’s recruiting class.

Common errors

• Reading a 52.02 master’s row as “the MBA”
• Treating a blank cell as $0
• Comparing FOS medians to CSEA starting salary without naming cohort and clock
• Using four-digit Scorecard CIP as the STEM OPT code

FAQ

Do unaided students appear?+

No. Field-of-study earnings and debt are Title IV matches. Schools with few federal borrowers look thin or blank.

Can one person appear in two fields?+

Yes, if they completed awards in different CIP codes or credential levels, or at two institutions.

Why four-digit CIP?+

Larger cells and plainer titles. IPEDS Completions and the DHS STEM list still use six digits.

Is OPEID6 the same as the campus I visited?+

Not always. ED often computes debt and earnings at the six-digit OPEID and repeats them across branch UNITIDs.