College Search

These websites will assist you in thinking through your choices about college. Some of the sites also contain other useful information about test preparation, financial aid, and links to qualitative campus information.

• www.ucan-network.org - University and College Accountability Network provides concise, user-friendly online information for comparing individual private colleges and universities.

• nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator - National Center for Education Statistics enables you to build an online list of schools for side-by-side comparisons, to save your search criteria for using or editing later, and to export your search results into a spreadsheet.

• www.economicdiversity.org - Institute for College Access and Success web site is a source of campus-level data on student income, race and ethnicity, and student loan usage. You can use the tools to look at the profile of a college, and to compare profiles of colleges.

• collegesearch.collegeboard.com - CollegeBoard College Search contains information from 3,800+ colleges and allows you either to find colleges that meet your needs, or to explore a school already familiar to you.

• www.petersons.com - Peterson's Planner includes a number of search tools to help you find the right school, gather information about specific programs, contact admissions officials, excel on tests, and pay for college.

• www.californiacolleges.edu - CaliforniaColleges.edu provides search tools for exploring colleges and careers, planning and paying for college, meeting admission and transfer requirements for schools in California.

• www.usatoday.com/news/education/ - The Center for Post-Secondary Research at Indiana University annually conducts a National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) in which college students at over 1,200 colleges and universities are asked about their learning and personal development experiences while enrolled in college. While some colleges provide the survey information on their websites, comparing institutions has been difficult because NSSE has left it up to the participating colleges to decide whether to share the survey findings with the public. Due to collaboration between USA Today, NSSE, and the National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC), a searchable database of key NSSE indicators for 245 colleges and universities is available.

• www.nchchonors.org/nchc_members.htm - National Collegiate Honors Council provides a list of Honors Colleges located at larger public and private universities. The goal of the colleges is to give top students enriched resources and opportunities within the larger university setting. At many universities, this includes special housing, priority registration, extra consideration for merit scholarships, and other benefits such as special opportunities for internships and research projects. Another important benefit of many programs, however, is access to smaller classes and a stronger sense of community within the large university setting.

• www.catholiccollegesonline.org - National Catholic College Admission Association enables you to find information on academic requirements, finding financial aid, and hunting for the right college. If you prefer browsing off-line, you can download the Official Catholic College and University Guidebook to begin looking into Catholic higher education.