My mission is to empower youth with: - The knowledge about career possibilities, and the education and training needed to attain them - The creative-thinking and emotional skills that make for good career decisions and which employers prefer; - And the resilience needed to flourish in life.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Rankings vs. Reality: How Do You Assess Your College Choices?
College rankings publishers are getting smart about answering students’ real questions about what makes for a great higher education experience. Whether you use or believe these rankings, or the methodology used, the newer, more creative rankings publishers, can open students’ minds about what might really be important in their college decisions.
Look on the home page of any college web site. If it made the cut on one of the U.S. News and World Report or The Princeton Review’s favorable lists of distinctions, it will certainly be promoted there. U.S .News and World Report rankings are developed by peer ratings from college administrators, while The Princeton Review’s come from student surveys.
So, despite the controversy over rankings, colleges care about them.
Most students make final college choices on the basis of some reality: financial, career or just how the campus “feels” to them. However, it’s also worthwhile to look at how the college might impact you as a person.
Some publishers have responded creatively to new and different issues raised by the public, the media and even higher educators themselves about what makes for a great college experience. Since 1996, Colleges That Change Lives (CTCL) , a non-profit organization, has member schools who are recognized as having “students heavily involved in cooperative rather than competitive learning, and a faculty of scholars devoted to helping young people develop their powers, mentors who often become their valued friends."
And this fall, the Washington Monthly evaluated schools based on:
- “Social mobility” - the recruiting and graduating of poorer students
- Research - the support of scientific and humanistic study, by producing PhDs and by the winning research grants
- Service – the school’s effectiveness at giving back to the country, through either military or civilian service
One can certainly imagine the positive impact on character that would come from a collaborative learning experience in an environment that focuses on social impact. Ask creative questions of your prospective faculty on these matters when you whittle down your college list.
Look on the home page of any college web site. If it made the cut on one of the U.S. News and World Report or The Princeton Review’s favorable lists of distinctions, it will certainly be promoted there. U.S .News and World Report rankings are developed by peer ratings from college administrators, while The Princeton Review’s come from student surveys.
So, despite the controversy over rankings, colleges care about them.
Most students make final college choices on the basis of some reality: financial, career or just how the campus “feels” to them. However, it’s also worthwhile to look at how the college might impact you as a person.
Some publishers have responded creatively to new and different issues raised by the public, the media and even higher educators themselves about what makes for a great college experience. Since 1996, Colleges That Change Lives (CTCL) , a non-profit organization, has member schools who are recognized as having “students heavily involved in cooperative rather than competitive learning, and a faculty of scholars devoted to helping young people develop their powers, mentors who often become their valued friends."
And this fall, the Washington Monthly evaluated schools based on:
- “Social mobility” - the recruiting and graduating of poorer students
- Research - the support of scientific and humanistic study, by producing PhDs and by the winning research grants
- Service – the school’s effectiveness at giving back to the country, through either military or civilian service
One can certainly imagine the positive impact on character that would come from a collaborative learning experience in an environment that focuses on social impact. Ask creative questions of your prospective faculty on these matters when you whittle down your college list.
Washington Monthly ranks colleges by social mobility, research and "giving back" to the US. http://ping.fm/VJGHw
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