Study & Ranking of college/university admissions web sites

Parent Cafe
1

<p>FYI....</p>

<p>"The 8th annual Enrollment Power Index™ (EPI), a research-based analysis, rates how well the functionality and design of college and university Web sites provide information to potential students to take them from prospect to
applicant."</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nrccua.org/downloads/reports/EPI%202006%20Press%20Release%20Final%20_6_.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nrccua.org/downloads/reports/EPI%202006%20Press%20Release%20Final%20_6_.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>here are 2 rankings out of several:</p>

<p>Overall Top 15 Institutions
1. Mount St. Mary's College, CA
2. Whitman College, WA
3. Arizona State University, AZ
4. Covenant College, GA
5. York College of Pennsylvania, PA
6. Fort Hays State University, KS
7. University of North Carolina-Pembroke, NC
8. Augustana College, IL
9. Southern Utah University, UT
10. College of the Holy Cross, MA
11. Southeastern University, FL
12. Lake Forest College, IL
13. University of Missouri-Kansas City, MO
14. Lehigh University, PA
15. Mount Mercy College, IA</p>

<p>Top 10 Liberal Arts Institutions
1. Whitman College, WA
2. Augustana College, IL
3. College of the Holy Cross, MA
4. Lake Forest College, IL
5. Presbyterian College, SC
6. Albright College, PA
7. St. Lawrence University, NY
8. Stephens College, MO
9. Pine Manor College, MA
10. Virginia Wesleyan College, VA</p>

<p>excerpt on website feature trends:
"This year’s research revealed three items that have become more critical to admissions Web sites and are expected by potential students who use the sites.
1. Virtual diaries and blogs maintained by current students that discuss their college experiences, allowing prospective students to see what life on campus is really like
2. Interactive functions such as instant messaging and live online chat rooms for students to communicate with admissions officers as they explore their college options
3. The ability to track admissions applications status online"</p>

2

<p>Coming soon: the annual ranking of ranking sites. :)</p>

3

<p>Hah. I spent 10 minutes recently trying to find the admissions office phone number on ASU's site. It is not designed to make it easy for one of the bazillion potential applicants to call and ask a question of their underpaid and overworked staff. The question, believe it or not, was why we had not, as promised, received our login and password so we could track our application online and not have to bother anyone with a phone call.</p>

4

<p>What I love is how frequently they bury tuition, room and board costs. One site (I've forgotten which one) I never could find tuition listed anywhere! I ended up emailing the school.</p>

5

<p>I had the same experience with application deadlines. I couldn't find what it would be for mid-year admission to our state school.</p>

6

<p>Just a datapoint: Although the NRCCUA bills itself as a non-profit, it is run by Magire, one of the largest enrollment management and college marketing companies out there. So, wonder how many of these "top" college websites are actually clients of Magire?</p>

7

<p>Forget this -- I want to see the list of "Worst Sites."</p>

8

<p>what about # of bathrooms per student</p>

9

<p>huskem55-- an inspiring question :) ....ok, I'll bite....provoked some googling. Unfortunately, I couldn't find much on college bathrooms/student, let alone a ranking ....although after some brief thought, that ranking may be an incredibly popular one for HS students in search of the perfect home away from home! But, horray, there is a little info out there on secondary schools.</p>

<p>I did find out, and this makes sense, that there are design codes for "toilets per student" for public school districts. Here they are for Rhode Island:
Type of School Minimum Ratio of Toilets per Student (Boys/Girls)
Elementary School: 1:40 / 1:35
Secondary School: 1:75 / 1:45 (Urinals 1:30)</p>

<p>And....this is unbelievable....check out this entire study (Californian of course) on toilet flushing....a minor reference in Table 2, Toilet Coefficients, on school toilet/student ratios.
<a href="http://www.cuwcc.org/m_exhibit8.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.cuwcc.org/m_exhibit8.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Back to your original premise, I vote for USNews to add this ranking category....might improve readership. Better yet, perhaps the World Toilet Organization ( <a href="http://www.worldtoilet.org/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.worldtoilet.org/&lt;/a> ) or the American Restroom Association ( <a href="http://www.americanrestroom.org/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.americanrestroom.org/&lt;/a> ) should develop their own ranking & get into the college business like everybody else.</p>

10

<p>You laugh, but my web savvy son who has two websites of his own is a harsh judge of college websites. The worst websites of all? Computer Science Departments! </p>

<p>Hint to college: if you want to attract students to your digital media programs--trying spending a little dough to create an interesting, easy to use website.</p>