September 9, 2020

College Rankings Are What They Are: College Rankings

The fall semester or quarter is upon us at colleges across the country. So is college rankings season. College-bound students and their families want to know which colleges are hot and which might not be.  I want to leave you with an important piece of advice. College rankings are what they […]
August 11, 2020

Is Selectivity Important in Choosing a College?

One of the worst reasons for choosing a college is selectivity. A school is neither “good” nor “great” because it denies admissions to the vast majority of students who apply. Choosing a college by how many people they reject would be like judging the quality of a car by the […]
September 26, 2016

Did Villanova University ‘Rise’ or ‘Fall’ in the US News Rankings?

If you’re a college basketball fan, its no doubt that you know that Villanova University was the 2016 National Champion in the NCAA Men’s Final Four. I have no doubt that Villanova will see more applications for admission this year—from college basketball fans, for sure—because winning certainly helps to get […]
July 18, 2016

Money Magazine Does Thorough Job On College Rankings–But They Cannot Be Your ‘Be-All, End-All’ For College Choices

Last week Money Magazine released its value-based college rankings. These relied on 24 measures in three statistical categories. I am not a statistician. But I do have some understanding of how to read and interpret statistics. I also know that, for example, a car magazine would not rank brand new small […]
July 7, 2016

The ‘Best Colleges’ in Forbes College Rankings Might Be…

I have not, and will probably never be, a fan of Forbes college rankings. I could have made their list with less time and money by matching up selectivity and endowment per student to come up with a set of “best colleges.” The exception that I might have had to consider […]
January 28, 2016

Is Harvard ‘America’s Best Undergraduate University’?

If there is a school that I have no reason to visit it’s Harvard. It’s not because I have already been there. It’s because Harvard’s brand image is probably stronger than the undergraduate education really is. Unless you’re a football fan who grew up rooting passionately for Notre Dame or […]
October 13, 2015

The Best Private Liberal Arts College May Be….

This week I am traveling to visit several schools in New England. On Saturday I was the guest of a family that has a son attending Centre College (KY). As thanks I am reposting this piece while I travel–Ed. Those who visit this site frequently read my comments about college rankings. If you’re […]
October 5, 2015

U.S. News Best Colleges Guide Still Misses the Point About the ‘Best’ Colleges

The annual U.S. News Best Colleges guide, while universally scorned, is the still the driver of many a college search and many a college admissions marketing and “continuous Improvement” strategy in higher education. It’s easy to understand why. The people who assemble the U.S. News Best Colleges guide have no stake in where […]
August 31, 2015

What Do Standardized Test Scores Have To Do With the Quality of a College?

Last week I wrote an opinion piece about college rankings that received a little more attention than others that I write on EducatedQuest. I simply don’t believe that published college rankings should hold much sway in a family’s decision to choose a college. Today, I’ll cover an area that falls […]