It\u2019s cold outside. And for high school seniors, parents and college counselors, this time of year isn\u2019t only about the holidays. December also marks the peak of college application season, as January deadlines are soon approaching.
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But, while seniors make their final college decisions, it\u2019s important for them to remember that picking a college isn\u2019t like shopping for a new car or fancy tech product. When it comes to higher education, the most expensive options aren\u2019t always the best.
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A big price tag, according to a recent study<\/a>, does not translate to high alumni ratings regarding the quality of their education. If anything, alumni are more likely to give their alma mater a lower rating if the cost of attendance was steep. \u201cNeither net tuition nor the total cost of attendance — including room and board — predict better consumer ratings,\u201d wrote Jonathan Rothwell, the study\u2019s author and senior economist at Gallup. \u201cIn fact, total cost of attendance predicts lower satisfaction.\u201d The alumni surveyed were, instead, more likely to rate their college experiences highly if they thought their college prepared them for a well-paying career, which is \u201cconsistent with common responses students give for why they go to college in the first place,\u201d Rothwell wrote. There are, without a doubt, many colleges and universities out there that will equip students for a rewarding, well-paying career without taking on a lot of debt. The problem is, it’s not always easy for students to decipher which schools give them the best shot. Typically, when making financial decisions, consumers turn to rating or ranking systems based on the opinions of their peers. When deciding where to eat, for example, consumers may look at the star ratings on Yelp. Or before buying a new car, consumers may look up which are ranked the highest on J.D. Power. When shopping for colleges, however, this process isn\u2019t always as easy. Although a number of systems have emerged over the years to try to solve this problem, all of them, seemingly, have their faults. \u201cThere are 7,593 schools in the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard,\u201d Rothwell wrote. \u201cYet, U.S. News, for example, ranks 311 \u2018national universities\u2019 and 233 \u2018liberal arts colleges\u2019 but does not compare these to the thousands of other schools, which are either unranked or put in a \u2018regional\u2019 category. Forbes ranks 650 schools, and Money ranks 711. With the exception of Washington Monthly, no major media outlet ranks two-year colleges.\u201d In 2013, President Obama tried to solve this problem by coming up with a rating system that would point out the schools where students were most likely to waste their money. That way, students could \u201cget a bigger bang for their education buck.\u201d It was going to score colleges by weighing information regarding how much students were paying for school, how much money they made after graduation and how much debt they had to take on to earn their education.
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nHelping students choose the right college<\/strong>
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