# College Board BigFuture Colleges Scraper (`parseforge/college-board-bigfuture-scraper`) Actor

Scrapes college profiles from College Board BigFuture search results. Returns each college as a flat row with admissions data, costs, majors, and campus details. Filter by state, type, or keyword.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/parseforge/college-board-bigfuture-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ParseForge](https://apify.com/parseforge) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Developer tools, Other
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 1 monthly users, 87.1% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $5.43 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

[![ParseForge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ParseForge/apify-assets/main/banner.jpg)](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp)

### College Board BigFuture Colleges Scraper

**Scrape college profiles from College Board BigFuture by state, type, or keyword, up to a million per run.** Each profile includes admissions data, costs, majors, campus life details, and application deadlines. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

College Board's BigFuture site is the definitive source for US college data, but manually searching and copying profile details for hundreds of schools is slow and error-prone. This Actor reads the public college search results directly, letting you filter by state, ownership type, or a free-text name query. It returns every matching college in a consistent, flat schema ready for analysis.

| Who uses it | What they scrape College Board BigFuture for |
|---|---|
| High school counselors | Build a tailored college list for a student based on location and school type. |
| Educational researchers | Analyze tuition trends and admission rates across public and private institutions. |
| College admissions consultants | Compare program offerings and campus profiles to advise applicants. |
| EdTech product managers | Populate a college search tool with accurate, up-to-date institutional data. |

### What it does

This Actor collects college profiles from College Board BigFuture search results and returns each one as a flat row with admissions stats, costs, and campus information.

- 🏛️ **State filter:** Narrow results to a single US state using its 2-letter postal code.
- 🏫 **Type filter:** Select only public, private, or for-profit institutions.
- 🔍 **Keyword search:** Find colleges by name or a partial keyword match.
- 📊 **Structured output:** Every college returns as one row with admissions, cost, and academic fields.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

### What you can do with College Board BigFuture data

**📋 Build a regional college list.**

A counselor sets the state to 'TX' and type to 'Public' to generate a spreadsheet of every public university in Texas for a student's application shortlist.

**💰 Compare tuition costs.**

A researcher runs the Actor with no filters to collect all available colleges, then analyzes in-state and out-of-state tuition trends by region.

**🎓 Audit program availability.**

An EdTech company searches for 'Engineering' to identify every college offering engineering majors and populates their program-matching tool.

**📊 Track institutional profiles.**

A data analyst schedules weekly runs to monitor changes in admission rates and enrollment numbers across a watchlist of private colleges.

### Why choose this scraper

| | What you get |
|---|---|
| **No API key required** | Access public BigFuture data without registering a developer account. |
| **Bulk collection** | Gather up to a million college profiles in a single run. |
| **Fixed schema** | Every row shares the same fields, making analysis and database imports straightforward. |
| **Targeted filtering** | Combine state, type, and keyword to narrow results before collection. |

### How it compares

No other Store actor targets College Board BigFuture the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

| | College Board BigFuture Colleges Scraper | Build it in-house | By hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | Run it now, zero config | Days of engineering | None, but hours per pull |
| When College Board BigFuture changes | Maintained for you | You fix it | You re-learn the page |
| Proxies, retries, anti-bot | Built in | Your problem | Browser only |
| Output | Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export | Whatever you build | Copy-paste |
| Cost | Pay per result | Engineering time | Analyst hours |

### Configure the run

Drive the Actor with a state, college type, and a free-text name query, alone or together, and filters run as each result is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

```json
{
 "maxItems": 10
}
```

A larger pull:

```json
{
 "maxItems": 200
}
```

### Pricing

Pay-per-result: **$0.006 per result** collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $0.60 |
| 1,000 results | $6.00 |
| 10,000 results | $60.00 |

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

### Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. [Upgrade your Apify plan](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp) to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

### Run it

1. [Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp).
2. Open the [College Board BigFuture Colleges Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/college-board-bigfuture-scraper?fpr=vmoqkp).
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click **Start**.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the **Dataset** tab.

Run it programmatically through the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2) (`run-sync-get-dataset-items`) or the [ApifyClient](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js) for JavaScript and Python.

### Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to College Board BigFuture through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=parseforge/college-board-bigfuture-scraper"
```

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

### Troubleshooting

**Why am I getting no results?**

Check that your filters are not too restrictive. Try running with only a state or only a keyword first. If a state code is used, verify it is a valid 2-letter US postal abbreviation.

**The run finished but collected fewer items than my maxItems setting.**

This means the Actor exhausted all matching results on BigFuture. Try broadening your filters or removing the keyword query to capture more colleges.

**Some fields are empty in my results.**

BigFuture does not display every data point for every college. If a profile page omits a statistic, that field will be empty in your dataset.

**The Actor is running slowly.**

The Actor respects the site by pacing requests. If you are collecting a very large number of colleges, the run will take longer. Reduce maxItems or narrow your filters for faster results.

### FAQ

| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What data does this Actor return for each college? | It returns the profile data visible on BigFuture, including location, admissions statistics, tuition and fees, enrollment numbers, available majors, campus housing, and application deadlines. The exact fields are shown in the sample output on the Actor's page. |
| Can I filter by more than one state at a time? | The state input accepts a single 2-letter code per run. To collect colleges from multiple states, run the Actor once per state and merge the datasets. |
| Does this Actor require a College Board account or API key? | No. It reads the publicly available BigFuture college search pages, so no login, account, or API key is needed. |
| How many colleges can I scrape in one run? | You set the maximum with the 'Maximum colleges' input, up to 1,000,000. The Actor stops when it reaches that number or when no more matching results exist. |
| What is the difference between the 'type' filter and the 'query' field? | The 'type' filter selects by ownership (public, private, for-profit). The 'query' field performs a free-text search against the college name. You can use both together to narrow results. |
| Can I get data on community colleges? | Yes. If a community college is listed on BigFuture, it will appear in results. Use the 'Public' type filter and a state code to focus on public two-year institutions in a specific state. |
| How often is the data updated? | The Actor reads live data from BigFuture on each run, so you always get the profiles currently displayed on the site. |
| What export formats are supported? | Your dataset can be exported in CSV, JSON, Excel, XML, and several other formats directly from Apify's storage. |

### Related actors

Browse the full [ParseForge collection](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp) for more scrapers.

🆘 **Need help?** Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ **Disclaimer.** This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by College Board. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.

# Actor input Schema

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of colleges to collect per run.

## `state` (type: `string`):

Optional 2-letter state filter (e.g. NY, CA).

## `type` (type: `string`):

Filter by ownership type.

## `query` (type: `string`):

Free-text search for college name.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "maxItems": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("parseforge/college-board-bigfuture-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "maxItems": 10 }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("parseforge/college-board-bigfuture-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "maxItems": 10
}' |
apify call parseforge/college-board-bigfuture-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,parseforge/college-board-bigfuture-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/JpBj2tOpa4IQXobOe/builds/dSkY0nm4LsOjYh7Mr/openapi.json