ArcherEDU Higher Education Schema

A vocabulary defining the program information that matters for LLM discovery. ArcherEDU Schema extends Schema.org’s existing “EducationalOccupationalProgram” type with over 80 additional properties covering information such as admissions requirements, costs, outcomes, accreditation, and program structure—the details prospective students ask LLMs about when evaluating degree programs. Archer developed this additional Schema to help higher education institutions fill in missing gaps that matter to prospective students who are searching on tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude.

A property is a specific data field that describes one aspect of a program, like “tuition per credit” or “minimum GPA required.” When you publish information corresponding to a property on your program page, you create an entity: a discrete, machine-readable piece of information that LLMs can extract and process. For example, stating “Minimum GPA: 3.0 on 4.0 scale” on your program page creates a “minimum GPA” entity that LLMs can use to answer student questions.

When all the entities about your program are published and interconnected—tuition costs linking to financial aid options, admission requirements connecting to prerequisite courses, career outcomes relating to licensure eligibility—you create a knowledge graph: a comprehensive, structured representation of your program that LLMs can use to answer complex student questions and make accurate comparisons.

Schema.org’s EducationalOccupationalProgram type includes 23 baseline properties covering fundamental program characteristics: name, description, provider, URL, credential awarded, duration, prerequisites, delivery mode, number of credits, occupational category, pricing, courses, language, start/end dates, terms per year, maximum enrollment, educational level, required competencies, financial aid, learning outcomes, and application dates.

While valuable as a foundation, these 23 properties don’t fully capture the specifics students need for higher education decision-making. ArcherEDU Schema adds properties across key areas, examples include:

• Admission Requirements: GPA minimums, standardized test scores, prerequisite courses, work experience requirements
• Cost & Financial Aid: Per-credit tuition, per-semester costs, fees, total program cost, scholarships, military benefits
• Career Outcomes: Graduate salaries, employment rates, time to employment, top hiring organizations
• Program Structure: Schedule flexibility, cohort-based progression, synchronous requirements, clinical hours, fieldwork
• Accreditation: Program- and school-level accreditors (AACSB, CACREP, CSWE, CCNE, ABET, etc.), accreditation status, institution-level accreditation
• Faculty & Support: Faculty credentials, career services, disability accommodations

Each property includes a priority rating (High/Medium/Low) based on its impact on student decision-making and LLM citation rates. High-priority properties like tuition per semester, admission requirements, median graduate salary, clinical hours required, and programmatic accreditation directly influence enrollment decisions. Missing these creates significant gaps in LLM discoverability because systems cannot answer fundamental student questions. This priority framework helps institutions focus implementation efforts where they matter most.

LLMs process information differently than traditional search engines. Rather than returning links to potentially relevant pages, LLMs extract discrete facts, perform calculations, make comparisons, and provide direct answers. When a student asks “Which MBA programs cost under $40,000?” or “What GPA do I need for CACREP-accredited counseling programs?”, LLMs extract specific values from program pages to answer these questions.

Specificity enables extraction. “Affordable tuition” provides no data an LLM can process. “$675 per credit hour” does. “Strong career outcomes” offers nothing actionable. “Median starting salary: $72,000” creates a concrete data point. When students ask about program costs, admission requirements, clinical hours, or career outcomes, LLMs cite programs that publish specific values, not marketing language.

Content placement affects discoverability. Contextual links within program page content—language such as “View detailed admission requirements” placed near eligibility discussions—signal to LLMs that linked information is directly relevant to the program being described. Information accessible only through header navigation or institutional menu systems is less reliably connected to specific programs during LLM processing.

ArcherEDU Schema defines which program details to publish and provides a priority framework for implementation. Properties are rated by their impact on common student questions, helping institutions focus efforts on information that most directly supports program discovery and evaluation.

Current Version: 2.4 (January 18, 2026)
Properties: Over 80 total (23 from Schema.org + ArcherEDU extensions)
License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0

• High Priority: critical for discovery and decision-making
• Medium Priority: important supporting information
• Low Priority: supplementary details

• Admissions (GPA, standardized tests, prerequisites, application requirements)
• Costs & Financial Aid (tuition structures, fees, scholarships, military benefits)
• Program Structure (schedule types, cohort model, synchronous requirements, residency)
• Career Outcomes (salaries, employment rates, licensure eligibility, top employers)
• Academic Details (credits, concentrations, clinical hours, internship requirements)
• Accreditation (programmatic accreditors, accreditation status)
• Faculty & Support (credentials, career services, disability accommodations)

[Explore All Education Schema Properties →]

AI readiness for higher education programs requires publishing specific, discoverable entities across admission requirements, costs, outcomes, program structure, and accreditation. A program is AI-optimized when prospective students asking LLMs detailed questions receive accurate answers that cite your institution.

Property coverage varies by program type. Not all properties in the schema apply to every program. Certificate programs need transfer credit and articulation agreement details that doctoral programs don’t. Healthcare programs might require clinical hours and licensure eligibility that business programs don’t. Graduate programs need thesis/dissertation requirements that undergraduate programs don’t. Understanding which properties matter for which programs—and at what priority level—requires deep knowledge of higher education program structures, accreditation requirements, and student decision-making patterns.

Quality matters as much as presence. Even when information exists, vague statements, contradictory details across pages, or outdated content reduce LLM citation reliability. “GPA required” without specifying the scale (2.5 on 4.0? 3.0 on 5.0?) creates ambiguity. Tuition stated on one page but contradicted in a PDF catalog creates confusion. Graduation rates from 2019 when current data exists suggests information may not be maintained. Programs need both the right information and the right level of specificity for reliable LLM extraction.

Achieving AI readiness means understanding which entities to publish for your specific programs, how to state them with sufficient specificity, where to place them for optimal discoverability, and how to maintain quality across all published information.

Archer Education’s AI Knowledge Graph Audit agents systematically evaluate program pages against the ArcherEDU Schema, identifying which entities are published, missing, or stated too vaguely for reliable LLM extraction.

Program-specific evaluation. Audit agents are pretrained on each university’s Strategic Marketing Guide to understand institutional brand positioning, program differentiators, and approved terminology. The agents evaluate programs in context—understanding that CACREP accreditation matters for counseling programs but not business programs, that NCLEX pass rates are critical for nursing but irrelevant for MBA programs, that transfer credit policies are high-priority for undergraduates but not doctoral candidates.

Comprehensive property assessment. For each schema property, the audit determines status (found, missing, or not applicable to this program type), location (program page, one-click contextual link, header navigation, or inaccessible), and quality (specific and clear, vague, contradictory, or outdated). The full ArcherEDU Education Schema includes all property definitions, data types, and LLM priority ratings.

Competitive market context. Audits evaluate your program entity coverage against competing programs in your market, identifying which critical entities competitors publish that your program lacks, and which entities you publish that competitors miss. This competitive analysis reveals immediate opportunities to improve program visibility in LLM-mediated student searches.

Actionable deliverables. Audits produce structured data files showing exactly which entities are found (with evidence and source URLs), which are missing, and which have quality issues requiring attention. Recommendations are prioritized using the schema’s High/Medium/Low framework, focusing first on entities that most directly impact student decision-making and LLM citation rates. Request a program entity audit to understand your current coverage and identify gaps.

The examples below represent common program types, but the schema applies across all higher education programs. Whether you offer engineering programs requiring ABET accreditation, arts programs with portfolio requirements, theology programs with denominational affiliations, or any other academic discipline, the property framework adapts to your program’s specific requirements and student decision-making factors.

Certificate Programs
Total program cost, completion timeframe, prerequisite requirements, and career certification eligibility. Include transfer credit acceptance policies and articulation agreements with associate or bachelor’s degree programs. Specify clinical hours (if applicable), certification exam eligibility, background check requirements, and job placement rates.

Undergraduate Programs
Transfer credit policies and maximum transferable credits, admission requirements including high school GPA and standardized test scores, per-credit and per-semester tuition costs, typical time to degree completion, concentration options, internship or capstone requirements, and career outcomes for recent graduates.

Master’s Programs
Admission requirements (GPA, test scores, work experience), program structure (cohort-based, schedule flexibility, synchronous requirements), concentration or specialization options, clinical/practicum/internship hours (if applicable), thesis or capstone requirements, career outcomes including salary ranges and employment rates, and time to degree completion.

Doctoral Programs
Dissertation or capstone requirements, comprehensive examination format, residency requirements, funding packages (stipends, tuition waivers, assistantships), time-to-degree completion rates, faculty research areas or practitioner credentials, and career placement in academic versus non-academic positions.

Business Programs
AACSB accreditation status, GMAT/GRE requirements and average scores, work experience requirements, cohort structure, concentration options, average starting salaries by industry, employment rates within 6 months, and top hiring organizations.

Nursing Programs
CCNE/ACEN accreditation, required clinical hours and clinical site locations, NCLEX or certification exam pass rates, prerequisite courses, admission GPA requirements, state licensure eligibility, program schedule options (full-time/part-time/accelerated), specialty track options, and employment rates.

Counseling Programs
CACREP accreditation status, required practicum and internship hours, supervision requirements, state licensure preparation pathways (LPC, LMHC, etc.), comprehensive exam or thesis requirements, cohort progression model, and graduate employment in licensed counseling positions.

Social Work Programs
CSWE accreditation, field placement hours and site locations, advanced standing options for BSW holders, licensure preparation (LCSW, LMSW), foundation and concentration year structure, thesis or capstone requirements, and career placement rates.

Education Programs
Teaching certification pathways, state licensure eligibility, practicum or student teaching requirements and placement locations, program specializations, EdTPA or other certification exam requirements, and job placement in school districts or educational settings.

Healthcare Programs
Programmatic accreditors (JRCERT, ACOTE, CAPTE, CoARC, etc.), clinical site locations, required clinical or fieldwork hours, certification/licensure exam eligibility, prerequisite courses, background check and health requirements, exam pass rates, state licensure eligibility, and employment rates.

Developed by Archer Education, a digital marketing agency specializing in higher education, to address the gap between Schema.org’s universal educational vocabulary and the specific information requirements of U.S. higher education program marketing. The schema reflects systematic analysis of:

• Student search patterns in LLM-powered systems (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overview, etc.)
• Common program information gaps that reduce LLM citation rates
• Higher education-specific accreditation requirements and terminology
• Competitive program marketing practices across institution types

Maintained by: Archer Education

Contributing: ArcherEDU Schema is published under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0. Institutions implementing the schema and agencies working with higher education clients are encouraged to provide feedback on property definitions, priority ratings, and coverage gaps.