Please note: Although the College Money Matters Team has found the information on the sites listed here to be useful, we do not endorse these or any sites from any organization. Also, we have not verified the content. Please be aware that there are always assumptions and flaws in any statistics and information that are gathered by any researcher.
College Navigator
This is one of the best sites for comparing colleges and finding ones with programs you are looking for. You can use search criteria and do side by side comparisons. (And save them!) Favorite things to find on this site: graduation rates (look for 4 year graduation), dropout rates, programs and majors, how much financial aid is awarded and college safety)
College Affordability & Transparency Center
A new feature on the College Navigator site, the College Affordability and Transparency Center is where you can find cost calculators for any colleges you are interested in by entering their name.
Third Way Report
There are a lot of ways to evaluate colleges. Take a break from US News and check out this report from Third Way on what kind of economic mobility you might expect from attending certain colleges, or which colleges give students the best bang for their buck.
College Scorecard
A website managed by the US Department of Education, this source, like College Navigator, provides details about specific colleges, graduation rates, student body profiles, costs, financial aid and debt, fields of study, costs, admissions, and more. Warning: It shows graduation rates after 8 years instead of 4 years, and it looks at median salaries rather than starting salaries. Most people don’t make the median until mid career!
Schools using the common app
The common app allows you to apply to multiple colleges using the same application. See which colleges participate here:
Common application sites focused on minority students
These sites provide ways for minority students to apply to multiple colleges with one application.
Visit the Common Black College Application site
Visit the Coaltion for College Access site
Federal Aid Estimator
Go to this “estimator” to see what Federal Aid you may get, based on your family income.
https://studentaid.gov/aid-estimator/
Financial Aid Package Estimator
You can use this free crowdsourced model to get an estimate of what your personal financial aid package might look like at different colleges. Just enter what you can afford for college and find out which colleges will probably meet that need.
Problems caused by for-profit colleges
This article delivers powerful insights into many of the issues with for-profit college, including their high-pressure sales techniques, tendency to result in high debt for students, and relatively meaningless degrees. Note: You can go to Wikipedia to see a list of ‘for profit’ schools to avoid.