<p>When a certain college comes up for discussion and we want to quickly review the basic admissions statistics, we have checked the "college search by name" feature on collegeboard.org. This week, I found that they have made drastic changes to the website. They now have "big future" that provides what is essentially an advertisement for the college, with the actual stats buried (you have to click into "applying", "academics" and "SAT scores". Is there something outside of collegeboard.org that would get you to the meat and potatoes more quickly?</p>
<p>It takes a while to get used to but it’s not like it’s buried. It just takes a couple more clicks to find all of the information. They simply updated their site to look a little more modern. I think they added some great features as well. But yes, I didn’t like it at first. Now that I’ve used it for several weeks this way, I don’t even remember exactly how it was before.</p>
<p>Yup, try this: [Search</a> For Schools, Colleges and Libraries](<a href=“http://nces.ed.gov/globallocator/]Search”>Search For Schools and Colleges)</p>
<p>I was going to recommend College Navigator, but it appears it links to the same place that PghMom recommended. Oh well, here is navigator:
[College</a> Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics](<a href=“http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/]College”>http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/)</p>
<p>Thanks for these tips. I think SteveMA is right – after using the new interface a little more, I will adjust. I think it inspired my initial reaction because it seemed to be one more place in this whole process where I feel like I’m being “sold” instead of “informed”. But the data does still seem to be there, and a few clicks is not unreasonable.</p>
<p>On a related note, NJ seems to have a state statute that requires the NJ state schools to show percentages of full-timers completing in 4 years, and then in 6 years, by gender. The currently visible data is for the fall 2004 first-semester cohort. It is enlightening. (At Kean, for example, only 13% of the full-time boys completed the degree in 4 years.) Does anybody know of this data being available for other schools? Where? Would the Common Data Set have this?</p>
<p>Yep. :)</p>
<p>[College</a> Results Online](<a href=“http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/search_basic.aspx]College”>http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/search_basic.aspx)</p>
<p>Enter the college name, and then go to the similar colleges page to find the tab.</p>
<p>Yes, common data sets have 4 and 6 year graduation rates, though not by gender (or major).</p>
<p>Note, however, that such rates are based on elapsed calendar time, not semesters or quarters in school. Measuring by semesters or quarters in school may give different results at schools with many students taking time off school to do co-op jobs. Schools with a lot of part time students may also have students making slow but steady progress toward graduation but may take longer than 4 or 6 years.</p>
<p>ucb, good point, although the statutory data in NJ seems to control for that by looking only at those who enrolled full time. There is still some leakage of people – they track graduated in 4, graduated in 6, and transferred out after the first year. They do not track subsequent transfers, people who switched to a part-time program, or people who took semesters off for any reason. Nor does it tell you when they went awry, and what their academic standing was when they left. People who flunked out are lumped together with people at the other end of the spectrum who did well enough to transfer after the first year to a better school. Together, they just simply do not show up in the graduation numbers.</p>
<p>It’s still sobering to see a number as low as 13% for four year completion. I would not expect 100% anywhere, but it does give you a basis for comparison with other schools. I have always wondered if the kids who will be entering higher ed at the lower end of the higher ed totem pole, would not be better off starting as commuters to community college (if you live in a place where the public 2 year school is very good). If the kid is poor at time management and disciplining himself to study, to enter a residential college situation as part of an incoming freshman class where only a small minority will finish in 4 years, seems almost like a setup to get off track and not finish in 4 years yourself. But if one transfers into that same school as a junior, a lot of the people who aren’t going to make it may have already left, and one’s new friends may be the ones with the habits that are needed for success.</p>
<p>Did the link work for you, Fieldsports?</p>
<p>I have found Collegedata to give the most information, with regards to admissions and financial aid awards. Once a school is selected, and you come to the College Overview page, look at the upper right-hand corner and select the Complete Data PDF (double red square Adobe acrobat thingies.)</p>
<p>I would not be surprised if the two strongest factors in 4 year* versus delayed graduation rates are cost of attendance and admissions selectivity. Higher cost (especially if financial aid and scholarships end after too many semesters or quarters) provides a strong incentive to graduate “on time”, while higher admissions selectivity means fewer students who needed remedial courses or are prone to failing courses.</p>
<p>*Or redefined as 8 semester or 12 quarter graduation rates, which would better account for schools with a lot of students doing co-ops or other non-school semesters or quarters interspersed with school semesters or quarters.</p>
<p>Deb T, the link is great. Thank you. I’ll look at the other site mentioned.</p>
<p>collegedata has 4-, 5-, and 6-year graduation rates in its college profiles. With its college search engine ([CollegeData</a> - College 411 - College Match](<a href=“http://www.collegedata.com/cs/search/college/college_search_tmpl.jhtml]CollegeData”>College Search & Match with our College Finder | CollegeData)), you can also search for schools by 4-year graduation rate and view the 4-year graduation rates of all the schools in your search results, even if you don’t search on grad rate.</p>