Selecting the right college can be challenging—but a new resource from Consumer Reports, “Find The Best Colleges for You” aims to make the process of researching colleges more efficient and ultimately less stressful for university-bound students. 

        The free guide is available at https://www.consumerreports.org/college.  Published in both English and Spanish, it identifies and defines the information that matters most to prospective students, directs them to the best resources to find those key pieces of information, and includes worksheets designed to simplify and support the research and evaluation process.Not meant to replace a college directory or ratings, the guide provides a list and clear definitions of about 20 discrete pieces of information needed to make good decisions about where to attend school. Those information elements revolved around four critical questions.

1. Does the college offer what I want to study?

2. How much will it cost and can I afford to go there?

3. What is the educational quality and experience offered by the school?

4. What type of environment does the college offer?

        Finally, two dozen print and online directories were reviewed to identify where prospective students could gather needed information. While many information sources provide profiles of schools, no one resource addressed the core data elements identified as important by experts and students.

        Consumer Reports published the guide so that prospective college students could make informed decisions when selecting colleges, the same way the publication helps consumers make the best possible buying decisions from using its expert ratings on products from cars to dishwashers.  

        Choosing the right college is a complex, consumer choice and a lot of the data on colleges is not publicly available. If the information isn’t available, the guide provides suggested questions prospective students can ask admissions counselors such as how many internships are available, how do students spend the majority of their time, how many computers are in the lab, and how many books are in the library. 

        The guide is based on the results of quantitative and qualitative research incorporating feedback from more than 2,500 individuals through a series of interviews, polls, surveys, and focus groups. 

        “We found that students need a consistent and straightforward process for researching colleges,” said Elena Falcone, project director.  “Too many students only considered schools they had heard of from friends and family, potentially missing out on a variety of good alternatives.”  

        As a result CR outlines a three step research process:

• Search broadly among different types of schools and programs

• Explore selected schools by bringing together essential facts about each

• Compare schools based on how well each school and its programs meets individual interests and needs.  

        Students and experts agreed on the core data elements that should be gathered to make a well-informed decision.  Project analyst Sambhavi Cheemalapati notes that “Experts were concerned that students would be superficial in their research interests, but in fact counselors and educators should be gratified to hear that students expressed significant interest in substantive information about the quality of schools and programs.  This highlights the need for all schools to make this information accessible and comparable.”

        Partners in this work include the Lumina Foundation whose funding supported the research project, development of the guide, as well as the production of bilingual print materials (guides, posters, bookmarks, and a website https://www.consumerreports.org/college/) and the Education Conservancy, a non-profit organization committed to improving college admission processes for students, colleges and high schools.