GENERAL RESOURCES
Note: If links on this page are broken, please let me know via my contact page. I’ll check them and make sure they are removed or changed if needed. Sometimes a different browser or machine (phone vs. computer, for example) will lead to different results. If links really don’t work, try searching for articles you want to read using the reference info here. Links often change but titles and publishers shouldn’t.​
Whether resources like the Common Application or the US Department of Education’s “College Scorecard,” these materials should be useful to anyone considering college and thinking about what kinds of majors to apply for. I encourage starting to interact with this page early in your college search and contacting me if you have questions about what you find here. If you know of rankings you think should be included here, please contact me with the resource and a link to it so I can have a look. I have definitely included pieces suggested to me in the past but may reject them if I feel they are poorly researched.
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As many are paid for by the taxpayer or member institutions, nearly all of these resources are free to access. A few are not without a subscription. I have marked the ones likely to require a subscription with “Possible Paywall.” For those few resources that do require payment to access, your school or local public library may have a subscription you can benefit from if your parents, neighbors, or mentors don’t.
​General Resources
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Note: All of these resources come from external sources. Whether college rankings, or information from the US Government etc, none are by me.
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Note: You will need to go through a great deal of material before you find the information relevant to college searchers here. Search for words like major and education to find relevant data on outcomes for people with various levels of education and what areas of study they focused on. Tables 34 and onward may be particularly helpful.
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“CSS[College Scholarship Service] Profile Home,” College Board: Fall 2024. The College Scholarship Service Profile is an independent, nonprofit submission that is run by the College Board. Around 200 universities use the CSS in awarding scholarships and other non-federal financial aid. The College Board says the CSS Profile helps college students nationwide access over $10 billion in financial aid annually. Along with the FAFSA, this is the largest path toward funding your education. The FAFSA is free whereas the CSS often has costs associated unless you meet certain financial aid requirements.
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”A First Try at ROI, Ranking 4,500 Colleges,” CEW Georgetown: 2019. Note: This press release covers a very lengthy report dealing with the return on investment from 4,500 colleges and universities. Many trends appear but ultimately one must remember that just because a school has a high return on investment, majoring in certain topics wherever you attend will likely lead to higher or lower incomes depending on the discipline. Still, this is a very useful and interesting document given that most students do change majors while in college and so can make a range of strategic choices as they advance through their degrees, with the options available to them varying depending on what kind—and size—of school they attend.
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Note: A very interesting data set for anyone looking at taking any kind of exam, particularly standardized ones.
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The Enrollment Deadlines Directory 2024 from The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) is a very handy informational tool that may help you if you are still trying to figure out where to go and how much financial aid you may be able to get from whatever schools you’re considering—and possibly even considering applying to.
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The Choices program is helpful to people with disabilities of various kinds thinking about college. They have a database that claims to be helpful linked to this home page but my screen reader skills aren’t up to managing Google sheets.
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“What Is Academic Probation? Prerequisites & How to Deal with It,” Custom Writing dot org: Dec 12, 2023. Note: I don’t really have a spot for things like this elsewhere so I’m including it here because this really is a tremendous blog with a lot of good advice for students in academic difficulty.
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“ Factors In The Admission Decision,” The National Association for College admission Counseling: fall 2023. Note: This requires a NACAC membership so speak with your college admissions counselor in school or with one you’ve hired to get a full sense of the data but for any student planning to go to college, and particularly to a selective or highly selective school or set of them, this data is potentially invaluable.
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“How To Estimate Your True Cost For A Forbes Top College” Forbes: Dec 17, 2023. Note: This fairly simple tool may be helpful in determining your approximate net price of attending many leading schools. Its results are only approximate.
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“How America Pays For College 2022,” Sallie Mae: 2022. Note: This 95 page report on a survey taken on this topic may be helpful as you figure out how to pay for your education.
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“Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid 2022,” The College Board: 2022. Note: a lengthy pdf but well worth the read if you have the ability to shape your residency and other