What Is the Funding Score?
Every school in ThinkKits has a funding score between 15 and 100. This number reflects how many federal funding programs the school is eligible for based on its demographics, Title I status, and other characteristics from NCES data.
The score is not a dollar amount. It tells you at a glance how many funding options a school can tap into. Schools with higher scores have more programs available, which typically means more paths to fund purchases.
How the Score Is Calculated
ThinkKits automatically evaluates each school against all federal funding programs in our database. The score maps directly to the number of programs a school qualifies for:
| Programs Eligible | Funding Score |
|---|---|
| 7 or more | 100 |
| 6 programs | 90 |
| 5 programs | 75 |
| 4 programs | 60 |
| 3 programs | 45 |
| 2 programs | 30 |
| 1 program | 15 |
Programs evaluated include Title I Part A, Title II Part A, Title IV-A, IDEA Part B, E-Rate, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, and Rural Education Achievement Program, among others.
Where to Find It
The funding score appears on every school profile page. Open any school profile by searching for a school name or NCES ID, and the score is displayed in the profile header alongside other key data points.
You can also see funding scores when browsing schools in the School Intelligence tools, Lead Finder, and Watchlist views. The score is included in data exports.
How to Use It
- Vendors: Prioritize outreach to schools with scores of 60 or higher. These schools have four or more funding paths, giving them more budget flexibility.
- Educators: A higher score means you may qualify for programs you haven't explored yet. Use the Funding & Grants tools to see which specific programs apply to your school.
- Grant writers: Schools with scores of 75+ often qualify for grant stacking — combining multiple programs to cover a single purchase.
Data Sources
Funding scores are calculated from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD), EDGE demographics, and federal program eligibility rules. Scores update when new NCES data becomes available, typically on an annual cycle. See Data Sources for the full list.
The funding score is a starting point. After identifying a school's eligible programs, use the Submission Package tool to generate the narrative and compliance documents you need to actually apply for funding.
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