STUDENT-CENTERED SOLUTIONS FOR COLLEGE PLANNING

Rising college costs and increased competition for admission are forcing families to consider the choice of a college more carefully than ever. In doing so, many are turning to college ranking guides to find the best colleges for their children. This would make good sense if the ranking guides were empirically driven—based on science and fact—and matched with a profile of the student’s talents, skill sets and needs.

Unfortunately, that is not the case. Rankings are far from scientific—and kids are constantly changing their dreams and directions!

Upon closer examination, college rankings are the ultimate tease—fiction wrapped up as science. Constantly changing methodologies, self-reported (by colleges) data and authoritative decrees about the validity associated with related weights and measures have the illusory effect of quantifying the mythical pecking order. While the outcomes generate marketable stories, rankings bear little that is truly useful to students in finding good college “fits.” Instead, they reinforce the destination orientation—a need to find or have the “best”—that is pervasive in college selection at the expense of solutions that are student-centered.

Before you get out your credit card, then, or rush to printout a list of the “best” colleges, take a moment to ask yourself three questions:

1. Who is defining the “best” and what does it mean for me/my child?
2. What do the editors of ranking guides know about me/my child?
3. Where is the evidence that rankings will make a difference in our college planning outcomes?

Let’s take a closer look at the importance of each question.

1. Who is defining best and what does it mean for me/my child? Don’t assume that there is a universal application of the term—and don’t assume the definition you are being given by editors is the most appropriate. References to the “best” in any context are heavily value-laden and are offered from the perspective of the person making the statement. Be discriminating. Know that the definitions of “best” that are thrown around to sell magazines may not—and, in fact, should not—be the beginning point for your own definition.
2. What do the editors of ranking guides know about me/my child? Where, for example, do they talk about the colleges that are best for the bright, but timid student who wants to study classical archaeology or the student who learns best through engagement in the classroom or the young person whose sense of self and direction is still emerging? Despite editorial acknowledgements that the choice of a four-year undergraduate education is “one of the biggest decisions a typical American family can make” what tangible take-aways do college rankings offer that apply to your situation?
3. Where is the evidence that rankings will make a difference in our college planning outcomes? More specifically, you need to ask yourself, “What’s in it for me?” Unlike the purchase process with regard to other commodities (cars, appliances, etc.), the ultimate choice of a college is the product of a mutual selection process. Rankings don’t get kids into college nor do they point you in the direction that is best for you.

The college-going process has been turned upside down by ranking guides. For example, who is really being served when the effect of ranking guides is to shine a brighter light on a handful of institutions that already turn down 80-90% of their applicants? If ranking guides are truly useful to consumers, why do disproportionate numbers of students apply to schools where the chances of gaining admission are less than one out of four? How supportive are they to agendas of access and completion when barely half of the students entering college this fall will graduate from any college in 4-5 years?

There are no shortcuts or easy substitutions for thoughtful and reflective research in the college planning process. At the end of the day, rankings are, at best, artificial metrics for quality in education that detract from sensible, student-centered decision-making. The choice of a college is one of the most important decisions in the life of a family. Avoid unhappy outcomes by establishing the student, not the destination, at the center of your deliberations.