College Search Tools

Types of Colleges

Public

Public colleges are funded by local and state governments and usually offer lower tuition rates than private colleges, especially for students who are residents of the state where a college is located.

- Community and Junior Colleges (2 year)
- Technical Institutes & Professional Schools
- Colleges (4 year)
- Universities (4 year)

Private

Private colleges rely mainly on tuition, fees and private sources of funding. Private donations can sometimes provide generous financial aid packages for students.

- Colleges (4 year)
- Universities (4 year)
- Ivy (Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Cornell, Dartmouth, and Brown-Cornell is public and private)
Some private schools have a specialized focus:
- - - Liberal Arts (Colleges That Change Lives)
    - Art
    - Religious Emphasis
    - Historically Black
    - Women's Colleges
    - Tribal Colleges
    - Other Mission

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/find-colleges/college-101/types-of-colleges-the-basics

Service Academies

United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD

United States Military Academy, West Point, NY

United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Spring, CO

United States Coast Guard Academy, New London, CT

United States Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, NY

Recommended Reading:

20 Things You Need to Know About Applying to Service Academies

What a Difference a Degree Makes

Did You Know?

That over the course of a lifetime...

Someone with a high school diploma can expect to earn $1.3 million.
A worker with some college but no degree earns $1.5 million.
An Associate’s degree-holder earns $1.7 million.
A worker with a Bachelor’s degree will earn $2.3 million.
Graduate degrees provide for even higher earnings:
- A Master’s degree-holder earns $2.7 million.
- A Doctoral degree-holder earns $3.3 million.
- A Professional degree-holder earns $3.6 million.

https://www.commonapp.org/plan/why-college-matters

What is the difference between a college and a university?

Community colleges offer two-year associate degrees that prepare you to transfer to a four-year college to earn a bachelor's degree. They also offer other associate degrees and certificates that focus on preparing you for a certain career. Community colleges are often an affordable option with relatively low tuition.

Colleges are usually four year institutions where students can major and earn a bachelor's degree in content areas. Some colleges have added limited master's programs.

Universities often are larger and offer more majors and degree options—bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees—than colleges. Most universities contain several smaller colleges, such as colleges of liberal arts, engineering or health sciences.

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/find-colleges/college-101/types-of-colleges-the-basics

Initial Considerations When Making Your

College List

Where you would like to attend college (List at least 4-8 schools, but no more than 10 that include safety, target and reach options)

Location and distance from home
Test optional / Average test scores needed for admittance
Accepts AP and dual enrollment course credit
Cost and financial aid options
Specific majors or programs
Diversity
Graduation / retention rates
Type and size of school (faculty to student ratio)
History of the school
Extra-curricular activities
Campus vibe
Support services on campus
Relationships with alumni or current students

The Ultimate Guide to the College Search: How to Find Your Perfect College Match

College Selection Checklist Tool

Most Important Considerations When Deciding on Your MATCH or FIT...

Where you are accepted
Which college offers the best program for your major and the career you are studying for
School culture and how YOU FIT into it (socially, academically, financially & location wise)
The amount of financial aid offered, sources of potential scholarships and/or grants, the amount of money you have available, the amount of money you can earn before (and possibly during) college and how much you are willing to spend and/or borrow
Anticipated average earnings

College Search Tools

College Navigator https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/ -->free consumer information tool designed to help students find out what they need to do to prepare for education beyond high school by building a list of schools and comparing them side by side.

College Board https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-search-->complete college searches by major, location, type of college, financial aid etc.

Kipling's College Finder www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-best-college-values-college-finder/index.php#Tile --> best college values for 2019

College Scorecard https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/-->created by the United States government, for consumers to compare the cost and value of higher education institutions in the United States. It displays data in five areas: cost, graduation rate, employment rate, average amount borrowed, and loan default rate.

College Simply www.collegesimply.com/ -->Compare college ranking, tuition and admission and salary data side by side for any three U.S. college or university; filter colleges by test scores etc.

Colleges That Change Lives https://ctcl.org/--> database of liberal arts institutions that change lives due to the mission of the school and the nature of the curriculum.

Historically Black Colleges https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/hbcu-->rankings and reviews of the best historically black schools.

Naviance https://www.naviance.com/ User= Student Email / Password= Student ID# --> school subscription required in order to access tools for college and career searches, surveys, forms, scholarships, college rep visits etc. It also provides scattergrams which allow students to asses the likelihood of their acceptance based on prior admissions (GPA and test scores).

U.S. News and World Report College Rankings by Programs https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings--> lets students see how school majors and programs rank according to various criteria.

College-Research-Worksheet-editable_updated-3-4-20.pdf

Recommended Reading: Admission Decisions: What Matters? https://professionals.collegeboard.org/guidance/applications/decisions

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