How to pick a college without USNews College Rankings - Student Research Foundation

What Tools Can Help Students Pick Colleges if the USNews College Rankings Go Away?

As we publish this blog, we have learned that the law schools of both Harvard and Yale have decided to stop submitting data that USNews will use to rank them alongside other law schools. We think other law schools will follow suit. Will colleges also stop submitting their data to USNews for the college rankings issue? We have no way of knowing.

We do know, however, that USNews will not stop ranking law schools. That magazine will continue to rank law schools by considering data that schools do not provide – like job placements that students get after graduation, acceptance rates, and other factors that can be gathered from other sources.  Read more

student walking on a college campus - student research foundation

The Backlash Continues Against US News College Rankings

The recent revelation that Columbia University – that’s right, that Columbia University, the one that is a pillar of the Ivy League – was misreporting data to USNews has further discredited the college rankings that are published there. 

Can anyone continue to believe that the USNews rankings, which once were considered valuable by students, parents, and guidance counselors, contain information that is accurate or reliable?  Read more

Manipulating Grades Puts Students at a Disadvantage

Why Manipulating Grades Puts Students at a Disadvantage

A recent story reported in The New York Times, in The New York Post, and on network news programs reports that Prof. Maitland Jones of New York University was recently fired after a group of students filed a petition complaining that it was too hard to earn a high grade in his Organic Chemistry class. 

It seems that the course Prof. Jones taught was just too difficult and that Prof. Jones, a respected professor who had been teaching for many years and who even wrote the most often-used textbook on Organic Chemistry, was not helpful enough to students who were earning low grades. According to reports on the news, the underlying problem was that those low grades would hinder the ability of his students, who were mostly pre-med, to gain admission to med schools.  Read more

Student Success and improved graduation rates

New Report from Mainstay Recommends Ways to Improve the College Experience for First-Generation Students

“When I arrived on campus as a first-year college student, the differences between me and my peers were clear. So many of my fellow classmates seemed at home, not just among the beautiful buildings and green spaces, but also with the small nuances of the higher education experience — from skillfully finding the right courses to simply approaching faculty and staff for help. As the first member of my immediate family to go to college, I very quickly realized I had a longer, more stressful road ahead than those who showed up already knowing what to expect.” Read more

Applying to Colleges that Are Financially Healthy

Are Your Students Applying to Colleges that Are Financially Healthy?

According to data compiled by Inside Higher Ed, the number of public four-year universities in America declined by 2.3 percent from 2019-20 to 2020-21 and the number of private nonprofit four-year colleges fell 0.8. During those years, the number of community colleges dropped by 2.7 percent. Read more

Stalling on College Applications? These Tactics Should Help - Student Research Foundation

Students Are Becoming More Practical when Applying to College

Findings from the New Inside Higher Ed Survey

“My older son, who is graduating from an elite college this year, was most looking for high status in the colleges he put on his list five years ago. Now our daughter, who is just as accomplished academically, is thinking about costs and the careers that colleges can prepare her for. It looks like a new era of practicality has dawned.”

– Jaime, a mother who lives in the suburbs of Philadelphia

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How Students Qualify for the Common App Direct Admissions Program

Do Your Students Qualify for the Common App Direct Admissions Program?

If you are a teacher, a parent or a high school student, chances are you know about the familiar Common Application (“Common App”) that was first offered in 1975. It’s a great program that has allowed tens of thousands of students to apply to multiple colleges of their choice by submitting just one application.

Which colleges accept the Common App? You can find a recently updated list HERE.

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Meeting Remedial College Entrance Requirements

A New Approach to Meeting Remedial Entrance Requirements Is Gaining Ground

Information teachers, parents and college counselors should know . . .

In years past, colleges often required incoming students to take certain remedial courses in math, science, or other subjects before becoming fully enrolled. Often, students took those courses at community colleges, or in special programs the colleges offered, before becoming fully enrolled students. Read more

Student Taking a Standardized Tests such as the SAT which is going online

The New Computerized SAT: Some Important Questions Remain Unanswered

If you are a teacher, a parent, or a student, you have heard the news that starting in 2024, the on-paper-SAT will be phased out and all American students will only take the test online.

Despite a list of FAQs about the SAT that the College Board has made available online, we still do not know the answers to questions about the new test. Here are some important questions that seem to still be unanswered: Read more

Student Carrying Books - Is America’s Love Affair with College Fading Away

Is America’s Love Affair with College Fading Away?

Updated enrollment figures from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center show that college enrollment levels are continuing to fall

Data just released by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center shows that enrollment in American colleges and universities is continuing to fall:

  • Undergraduate enrollment in American colleges fell by 3.1 percent in the year preceding fall 2021, a loss of 465,300 students.
  • Enrollment losses show a two-year decline of 5.1 percent or a loss of 938,000 students since fall 2019.
  • The largest numerical drops occurred at public four-year institutions, where 251,400 students (or 3.8% of total enrollment) were lost. But the steepest percentage decline occurred at private for-profit four-year colleges, which lost 65,600 students (or 11.1% of enrollment.)

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