usa university admission

 USA UNIVERSITY ADMISSION  

College admissions in the United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Contents  [hide]
1 Overview
2 Participants
2.1 Students
2.2 Parents
2.3 High school counselors
2.4 Consultants
2.5 College admissions staff
2.6 Information sources
2.7 Test preparation firms
3 Planning
3.1 Timing
3.2 Selecting high school courses
4 Selection of colleges
4.1 Rankings
4.2 Choosing schools by selectivity
4.3 Return on investment
4.4 Better fit or prestige
4.5 Costs
4.6 Selecting colleges by type
4.7 Visiting colleges
5 Applications considerations
5.1 Extracurricular activities
5.2 Number of applications
5.3 Summer programs
5.4 Online identity
5.5 Choosing how to apply
5.6 Testing options
5.7 Common vs. college's application
5.8 Interviews
5.9 Essays
5.10 Teacher recommendations
5.11 Other considerations
5.12 International applications
6 How colleges evaluate applicants
6.1 Overview
6.2 Academic evaluation
6.3 Personal evaluation
6.4 Other factors
6.5 Other considerations
7 Acceptances and rejections
7.1 Notifications
7.2 Wait list considerations
8 Transfer admissions
9 See also
10 Suggested reading
11 Notes
12 References
13 External links
College admissions in the United States refers to the process of applying for entrance to institutions of higher education for undergraduate study at one of the nation's 2,675[1][2] four-year nonprofit schools. Generally, the college search begins in the student's junior year of high school[3] with most activity taking place during the senior year, although students at top high schools often begin the process during their sophomore year. In addition, there are considerable numbers of college students who transfer, as well as adults older than high school age who apply to college.
Overview[edit]

Millions of high school students apply to college each year. While the number of graduates from high school peaked at 3.3 million in 2008 and has been forecast to decline through 2015, the number of students enrolled in college is expected to increase through 2020 when there will be approximately 23 million students in college.[4] About a quarter of high school seniors apply to seven or more schools, paying an average of $40 per application.[4]
Fewer than half of all students entering college graduate in four years[5] and slightly over half graduate from college during their lifetimes.[5]
College admissions take considerable time and involves multiple steps, deadlines and choices, including fees, essays, college visits and interviews. Students file separate applications to each school, although the Common Application expedites the process in many instances. Most undergraduate institutions admit students to the entire college and not to a particular department or major, unlike many European universities and American graduate schools, although some undergraduate programs such as architecture or engineering may require a separate application at some universities.
New developments in college admissions include increased numbers of applications, increased interest by students in foreign countries such as Britain in applying to American universities,[6] more students applying by an early method,[7] applications submitted by Internet-based methods including the Common Application,[8] increased use of consultants, guidebooks and rankings, and increased use by colleges of waitlists.[7] One estimate was that 80 percent of applications were submitted online in 2009.[7]
Methods for funding students' college educations shifted during the past few decades from families to the students themselves via loans, although many of them are federally subsidized; as a result, many students graduate from college with considerable debt, and future estimated indebtedness is increasingly becoming a matter of concern.[9]


High school art students in Minnesota.
Participants[edit]

Students[edit]
Applying to colleges can be stressful. Many feel considerable pressure to perform well on standardized tests, participate in extracurricular activities and write authentic-sounding essays while maintaining high grades in rigorous courses. The outcome of the admission process may affect a student's future career trajectory considerably. Entrance into top colleges is increasingly competitive.[8][10][11] Demographic estimates of the numbers of high school graduates were 3.33 million in 2009, decreasing slightly through 2015 and rebounding to 3.4 million in 2019.[7]
Parents[edit]
The college applications process can be stressful for parents of teenagers, according to journalist Andrew Ferguson, since it exposes "our vanities, our social ambitions and class insecurities, and most profoundly our love and hopes for our children."[12] College can cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars over a four-year period.
High school counselors[edit]
Woman pointing to a Power Point presentation.

High school advisors can help parents understand aspects of the college admissions process.
Some high schools have one or more teachers experienced in offering counseling to college-bound juniors and seniors.[13] They usually work in conjunction with the guidance department who assist students in planning their high school academic path. Counselors handle many students and schools and generally do not have a role of overseeing or managing a student's college applications.[14] Advisors recommend that students get to know their school counselor.[15] Counselors do not complete interviews or write essays or arrange college visits.[16] Parents often meet with the school counselor during the junior year.[17] Most counselors have responsibility for helping many students and, as a result, it is difficult for them to provide individual help to a particular student; one estimate was that the average ratio for all high schools of counselors to students was 460 to 1.[4] Only about a quarter of high schools have a counselor devoted to college counseling issues full-time, while almost three quarters of private schools have a dedicated college counselor.[4] A report suggested that private school counselors have substantially more contact with university admissions people than public school counselors.[18]
Consultants[edit]
Generally fee-based consultant services[13] are hired by affluent parents who place a high premium on education and who have a strong interest in helping their child gain entrance to the "right" schools. However, there are some free programs to help underprivileged youth learn how to fill out applications, write essays, get ready for tests and work on interviews.[19][20] One admissions dean explained that she can "sniff out when there has been some adult involved in the process."[21][22] It can go to extremes, particularly with hard-to-check variables such as the college essays; according to one view, plagiarism on admissions essays has been a "serious problem," particularly on applications to private universities and colleges.[23] Some college counseling services are being offered online.[24] There is the possibility that hiring a professional admissions consultant can make an application appear artificial; for example, admissions personnel may suspect adult coaching when one part of an application is polished, while other parts aren't, such as varying quality regarding writing samples.[21] Another risk in hiring a consultant, which can happen if parents become too involved in the process: what Mamlet and Vandeverde term "overpackaging", meaning that the applicant appears so smooth, so perfect, that admissions officers suspect the person is not real but a marketing creation.[25] Generally, when hiring a college admissions counselor, parents and students try to understand the counselor's philosophy, learn what services are provided and whether any help will be offered regarding advice about financial aid or scholarships.[26] Mamlet and Vandevelde suggest that it is improper for an admissions counselor to tamper with a student's "authentic self."[27] According to their view, ideal counselors have experience with college admissions, meet regularly with college admissions officers, visit campuses regularly, and belong to professional affiliations.[26] Independent counselors can help a student select schools to apply to, counsel on test taking strategies, review scores, help with essay preparation (but not writing), review applications, conduct mock interviews, provide logistical planning, and collaborate with others such as athletic coaches.[28]
College admissions staff[edit]


Elite and other universities send admissions officers to high schools and college fairs to encourage high school students to apply. While the chance of admission to highly selective colleges is typically under 10%, increased numbers of applications helps maintain and improve colleges' rankings.


Marketing brochures and other promotional mailings can arrive every day in the hope of persuading high school students to apply to a college. According to Joanne Levy-Prewitt, colleges send "view books" like these not because they intend to admit them, but "because they want multitudes of students to apply" to improve the college's selectivity ranking and to make sure that they have as many well-qualified applicants as possible from whom to choose the strongest class.[29]
A typical admission staff at a college includes a dean or vice president for admission or enrollment management, middle-level managers or assistant directors, admission officers, and administrative support staff.[30] The chief enrollment management officer is sometimes the highest-paid position in the department, earning $121,000 on average in 2010, while admissions officers average only $35,000, according to one estimate.[30][31] Admissions officers tend to be in the 30-to-40 age demographic.[32] They are chosen for their experience in admissions, aptitude for statistics and data analysis, experience in administration and marketing and public relations.[30] They serve dual roles as counselors and recruiters, and they don't like to think of themselves as marketers, according to one view.[31] They are evaluated on how well they "represent their college, manage their office, recruit staff members, and work with other administrators."[31] Michelle Hernandez suggested there were basically two types of officers: a first group of personable, sharp, people-oriented go-getter types who were often recent college grads; a second group was somewhat out-of-touch "lifers" who often did not graduate from a highly selective college.[33] Officers are generally paid an annual salary, although there have been reports of some recruiters paid on the basis of how many students they bring to a college, such as recruiters working abroad to recruit foreign students to U.S. universities.[31]
Many colleges and universities work hard to market themselves, trying to attract the best students and maintain the best reputation for overall academic quality. Colleges spent an average of $585 to recruit each applicant during the 2010 year,[4][30] and these funds go to marketing brochures and hiring admissions staff. There are efforts to make increased use of social media sites such as Facebook to promote their colleges.[34] Colleges get access to names and addresses after students give permission to them after taking the PSAT or SAT exams.[29] One report suggested that college admissions officers were highly focused on how their rejection and yield rates appeared in rankings by US News.[35]
Information sources[edit]
US News compiles a directory of colleges and universities and has made a ranking of them, although there was a report that guidance counselors had major problems with their rankings.[36] Other sources rank colleges according to various measures, sell guidebooks, and use their rankings as an entry into college admissions consulting services. College Board launched a website called BigFuture in 2012 with tools to help the admissions process.[37] There are a slew of services to help expedite the college admissions process, including one web-based service that sells copies of successful applications to Ivy League colleges.[38]
Test preparation firms[edit]
Companies such as the College Board have offered services to help students prepare for their tests and provide other services, usually web-based, to help students compare and choose schools. Some firms work with schools to provide test preparation advisors who teach students how to take the test.
Planning[edit]

Timing[edit]
College admissions timeline 3.png

The admissions process usually begins during a student's junior year when a student meets with a guidance counselor, selects some colleges, and perhaps visits a few campuses. The summer before senior year is a good time to finalize application plans and perhaps begin writing essays, and decide whether to apply either early or regular decision. International students may need to take tests showing English-language proficiency such as the TOEFL, IELTS or PTE Academic.[39] Senior year is when students apply to colleges. The CSS can be submitted by October first of the student's senior year[40] while the FAFSA becomes available on the web after January first. Decisions happen by April, and students are expected to reply by May unless waitlisted.
Selecting high school courses[edit]
Advisors agree it is wise to have a "four-year plan" with proactive planning.[41] Two suggested against lightening the academic load during senior year lest it indicate less real interest in academics.[42][43]
Selection of colleges[edit]

Rankings[edit]
Map of US with names of 40 top colleges.

The US News ranking has generated much controversy; this map shows locations of its assessment of the top 40 colleges in the US in 2007, with many located in the northeast.
Counselors suggest one place to begin a search for colleges is to consult a ranking guide. Two well-known college and university rankings guides are the U.S. News and World Report[44][45] and The Washington Monthly's "College Rankings" issue,[46] but there are many different groups that produce college rankings of U.S. schools based on different factors and using different methodology. Advisors stress that consulting a ranking list is only a beginning, and that much more research is needed.
Rankings have been the subject of much criticism. Since much of the data is provided by colleges themselves, there are opportunities for schools to manipulate the rankings to enhance prestige. There have been instances in which school officials deliberately misreported statistics, such as an admissions dean at Claremont McKenna who falsified average SAT statistics,[47] and a report that Emory University falsely reported student data for "more than a decade,"[48] as well as reports of false data from the United States Naval Academy and Baylor University.[49] Writer Andrew Ferguson noted considerable hypocrisy surrounding rankings: some colleges pretend to loathe the guidebooks that rank them, yet if they get a good write-up, they “wave it around like a bride’s garter belt.”[12] Lynn O'Shaughnessy criticized the "mindless pursuit of better numbers" by colleges to boost their college rankings as destructive and wrote that families place too much emphasis on the rankings as a way to select colleges.[50] Further, she criticized the US News rankings for failing to take a college's affordability into account[51] or factor in the average student indebtedness after college[49] as well as failing to measure how well colleges actually educated their students.[49] She noted how the US News algorithm "favors schools that spurn more students."[49] College admissions counselors criticized rankings as misleading, and criticized the rankings inputs of peer assessments, student selectivity and alumni giving as being poor predictors of a college's overall quality.[52] The rankings title "America's Best Colleges", prompted counselors to ask "best for whom"?[52]
In 2007, members of the Annapolis Group discussed a letter to college presidents asking them not to participate in the US News "reputation survey".[53] A majority of the approximately 80 presidents at the meeting agreed not to participate,[54] although the statements were not binding.[55] Members pledged to develop alternative web-based information formats[55] in conjunction with several collegiate associations.[56] US News responded that their peer assessment survey helps them measure a college's "intangibles" such as the ability of a college's reputation to help a graduate win a first job or entrance into graduate school.[57] An article by Nicholas Thompson in Washington Monthly criticized the U.S. News rankings as "confirming the prejudices of the meritocracy" by tuning their statistical algorithms to entrench the reputations of a handful of schools, while failing to measure how much students learn.[58] Thompson described the algorithms as being "opaque enough that no one outside the magazine can figure out exactly how they work, yet clear enough to imply legitimacy."[58] One effort to systematize the compilation of college admissions data is the Common Data Set initiative.
Further information: Criticism of college and university rankings (2007 United States)
Choosing schools by selectivity[edit]


A Naviance scattergram for a hypothetical student, John Doe, applying to a particular hypothetical university. Grades and test scores can be compared with those of past applicants to that university from that high school. The method helps students see whether a school is a reach, possible, probable or solid school.
Advisors typically ask students to begin to see potential colleges in terms of four types:
Reach schools provide a slim chance of acceptance,[59] such as a 5% or slimmer chance.
Possibles have greater chance of rejection than acceptance.[59]
Probables have greater chance of acceptance than rejection.[59]
Solid or safety schools seldom reject candidates with similar academic credentials.[59] High school counselors recommend that a safety school be one that a student would like to attend if rejected everywhere else. Mark Kantrowitz advised having at least one financial aid safety school that is affordable even without financial aid.[60] Another classification is "unlikelies" (5% chance of acceptance), "reach schools" (25% chance), "possibles" (50% chance) and "likelies" (80% chance).
Typically counselors will suggest an applicant apply to a mix of the different types of schools, usually having at least one safety school, but the numbers of the others are up to students and families. Andover's counseling director recommends that a student apply to a minimum of two "solid" schools and two "probable" schools.[61] Many high schools subscribe to an online service called Naviance which, among other things, can help a student gauge the likelihood of admission to a particular college.[62] It is based on a student's grades and test scores in comparison to the admissions results from students from previous years applying to that particular college (see diagram).[62] Naviance uses a scattergram to graphically illustrate the chances for a student from a particular high school being admitted into a particular college or university.[3] In addition, counselors can help a student consider different types of colleges, such as liberal arts colleges, research universities, and specialty schools.[63] The difficulty of admissions to elite universities has sometimes prompted accusations:
The admissions system of the so-called best schools is rigged against you. If you are a middle-class youth or minority from poor circumstances, you have little chance of getting in to one of those schools. Indeed, the system exists not to provide social mobility but to prevent it and to perpetuate the prevailing social order.
—Essayist Neal Gabler in the Boston Globe, 2010[64]
Return on investment[edit]
Return on investment
Top colleges 2013[65]
College ROI rank
Harvey Mudd 1
Caltech 2
MIT 3
Stanford 4
Princeton 5
Harvard 6
Dartmouth 7
Duke 8
U. Penn 9
Notre Dame 10
Former US Education Secretary William Bennett suggested college should be seen as a long term purchase with the return on investment (ROI) being the future earnings potential of a graduate.[65] Schools have been compared financially by examining average costs, student debt, and lifelong earnings, to yield an effective average ROI.[65] Bennett suggested that only 150 out of the nation's 3500 colleges provided positive returns.[65][66]
Better fit or prestige[edit]
Prestige of colleges correlates with age, such that the oldest east-coast schools tend to have accumulated the most prestige by virtue of their longevity. There is widespread consensus that the fit between a student and a school is an important factor. Several reports suggest that "fit should trump prestige every single time," and that it is better for a school to match a student in terms of social, cultural, and academic qualities and not be chosen simply because of a school's prestige.[41][67] Others see college admissions as essentially a choice between "price and prestige".[68] Elite colleges have been compared to designer labels, a valuable credential in the job market,[64] and an entryway into top graduate schools.[69] Some advisors specialize in helping students find a good fit—a suitable list of colleges—which helps students in the long run. They help students to explore their values and needs, and provide counseling to help both students and parents find a college or university program that helps students meet long term goals. Questions include thinking about life goals, which activities a person likes best, and what style of learning works best for the student.[70] Evaluating personal preferences is important and can take time.[71] One advisor suggests it is important for a student to think through what is best, and choose on this basis, and "do not listen to your friends" since they have different needs and wants. "One of the worst ways to make a decision about where to go to college is to follow a friend because he or she is having a good time at that school," wrote one advisor.[70] Since "barely half" of students entering college as freshmen ever graduate from college later in their lives,[5] getting the right fit is important for parents and students to avoid wasting money.[5] What is a good fit:
Colleges with 3 or more
professors chosen
for
teaching excellence[72]
University
affiliation # of
Great
Courses
teachers
U. Texas-Austin 7
U. Virginia 6
U. Pennsylvania 6
UCLA 5
Emory 5
Georgetown 5
UNC-Chapel Hill 4
Vanderbilt 4
U. Toronto 4
William & Mary 4
SMU 4
Columbia 3
Duke 3
Boston University 3
Northwestern 3
Notre Dame 3
U. Cal.-San Diego 3
U. Cal.-Santa Barbara 3
The college that fits you best is one that will: (1) Offer a program of study to match your interests and needs (2) Provide a style of instruction to match the way you like to learn (3) Provide a level of academic rigor to match your aptitude and preparation (4) Offer a community that feels like home to you and (5) Value you for what you do well.
—report in US News[5]
A private admissions counselor elaborates:
A school has to fit – academically, socially, and economically ... Ask whether a college feels right ... rather than is it best ...
—Michael Szarek, 2011[73]
One admissions dean likens "fit" to a friendship:
I draw the analogy of friends to explain why fit is so important in considering a college. You like your good friends for some reason. It may not be an objective reason. It's often subjective. There's some sense of compatibility, a kind of intuition, a match, a common sense of values, what you like to do, how you think -- those are the things that really bind people together. It's similar with college. You don't want to spend four years with a college who isn't really your friend.
—Jennifer Rickard, admissions dean at Bryn Mawr[74]
In addition, counselors can help less academically astute students find good colleges to help them pursue careers, and can point out colleges that are "gems" but relatively unknown.[75] In some cases, choosing a college in a different part of the country can improve chances for admission, particularly if the college is seeking "geographical diversity."[75] One study suggests that the overall prestige of a person's college is less important, overall, in predicting how they would fare in later life, and that personal characteristics, such as aptitude, are more important.[11]
Costs[edit]
Sticker versus net price[edit]
The general pattern is that most colleges and universities, particularly private ones, have an artificially high[76] and unreliable[76] sticker price while charging most students a discounted price that varies considerably.[77] Writer Lynn O'Shaughnessy in US News compared college prices with "airline tickets" since "everybody pays a different fare".[78] Another report agreed:
Sticker price is the full price colleges list in their brochures and on their websites. Net price is the price students actually pay. Net price accounts for the fact that many students receive grants or scholarships. So it can be considerably lower than sticker price.
—Jacob Goldstein, NPR, 2012[79]
Discounting began in the 1970s and was dramatically expanded in the 1990s, according to one report.[80] Discrepancy between sticker and average net prices can vary substantially. Estimates vary, but show a consistent pattern of sticker prices being much greater than real costs, sometimes more than double, sometimes only one a half times as high.[78][81][82][83] Estimates are that 88%[84][78] or 67%[85] get some form of discount. Generally, the sticker-to-net price discrepancy is greater at private colleges than public universities.[82] For example, in 2011-2012, the average sticker price for tuition, fees and living expenses at private colleges, was $38,590 while the average actual cost was $23,060; at public colleges, the average sticker price was $17,130 and the average actual cost was $11,380.[76] Another estimate was that the average full-time undergraduate gets $6,500 in grant aid along with $1,000 in tax-based aid to offset tuition and fees.[85] There is widespread consensus that the most cost-effective college option is community colleges, which charge on average only $3,000 for full-time tuition.[84]
Colleges use high sticker prices because it allows them wide latitude in how to use funds to attract the best students, as well as entice students with special skills or increase its overall racial or ethnic diversity.[80] The most sought-after students can be enticed by high discounts while marginal students can be charged full freight.[86][87] Further, the high sticker price is a marketing tool to suggest the overall worth of a college education, along the lines of encouraging people to think that "schools that cost more must provide a better education."[78] A report by the Pew Research Center found that while there was growing concern about escalating college prices, most Americans believed that their personal investment in higher education was sound.[88] But discounting adds complexity to decision-making, deterring some students from applying in some instances based on a false sense of unaffordability.[82]
Further information: College tuition in the United States
Net price calculators[edit]
Sticker versus net price
Family income $48K-$75K
Total annual cost
Selected colleges 2012
Source: CNN/Money[84][89]
Click triangles to sort
School Sticker
price Net
price
(avg)
Lafayette 53020 19800
Cornell 55501 27400
New York University 57858 40300
SUNY-Binghamton 20026 19400
U. Chicago 56716 28500
Reed 54800 29400
Berkeley 29027 24300
Swarthmore 54400 20000
Georgetown 55110 26400
Harvard 52652 10600
Allegheny 46350 38500
U. Michigan 23953 19100
U. Texas 21090 19400
Pomona 54110 11100
Vanderbilt 56236 17500
Rice 48621 26400
Bard 56542 30100
Notre Dame 40910 22600
Purdue 21187 18300
Juilliard 45180 22300
Boston College 55428 31900
U. Rochester 55196 20800
Emory 53892 23500
Stanford 54797 18900
In the fall of 2011, colleges were required by federal law to post a net price calculator on their websites to give prospective students and families a rough estimate of likely college costs for their particular institution,[35][76] and to "demystify pricing."[10][76] A student or family could go online, find the calculator at a college's website, and enter the required financial and academic information, and the calculator should tell them an estimate of the likely cost of attending that college. The first online calculators were started by Williams College.[87] The online calculators look at financial need and academic merit to try to estimate the likely discounted price offered to a particular student from a particular college,[76] using information including details from tax returns, household income, grade point averages and test scores.[87] Schools vary in terms of their pricing formulas; some consider home equity as a factor while others disregard it.[90] Lynn O'Shaughnessy recommends that families shopping for colleges go to a college's website and use the net price calculator to get a personalized estimate of cost.[90] There are numerous potential problems with the calculators. Some are difficult to find on a college's website;[76][87] others require specific financial numbers, possibly leading to errors by parents or students; some are difficult to understand and use;[87] some may be manipulated by schools to increase applications or to make it seem as if a college is "more affordable" than it is.[87] Accuracy of calculator estimates may vary considerably from college to college.[76][87] Ultimately aid decisions will not be made by calculators, but by humans in the admissions offices.[76]
Types of financial aid[edit]
Advisors can help students and parents decide whether to choose private universities or public ones, including state-subsidized schools as well as community colleges, and to help students and parents understand different types of financial aid.
Need-based aid is offered according to the financial need of a student. Generally colleges at the "top of the pecking order" dispense aid solely in terms of need using "fairly predictable formulas", according to one source.[76] The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that elite colleges had made little progress in helping poor students get need-based aid, and that less than 15% of undergraduates at the nation's 50 wealthiest colleges received Pell Grants in 2008-2009, which are offered on the basis of need to promising yet less affluent students.[91] According to one source, about 30 elite universities have "coffers deep enough to meet all student need" and consequently only offer need-based aid.[80]
Merit-based aid is scholarships and grants awarded to top academic performers or others with special talents. One report suggested that academic scholarships tended to be few, and were usually awarded by the admissions office and are "highly competitive".[60] Another report suggested that most colleges use merit scholarships, based on high scores or grades or other accomplishments, to lure students away from a competing college.[92]
One view is that most colleges award aid using a mix of both.[76] Further, student loans can lessen the immediate difficulty of large tuition bills but can saddle a student with debt after graduation; in contrast, grants and scholarships do not have to be paid back.[93]
According to Lynn O'Shaughnessy, schools trying to climb the prestige ladder use merit based scholarships to attract top students to boost their rankings in the US News guidebook.[50] She elaborated that as a school's "stock" rises, high performing students start attending in greater numbers, and consequently the college can "ratchet back on the merit aid to wealthy students" and shift funds towards "need-based financial aid".[50] Elite schools such as the Ivies don't give merit scholarships, according to two reports.[50][92] Another tool is to use the College Board's expected family contribution calculator that can give families an idea of how much college will cost, but not for any particular college.[94]
Families think their sons and daughters are awarded a merit scholarship because of the fact that they are wonderfully smart and talented ... The primary reason for awarding a non-need-based merit scholarship is to change a student's enrollment decision from another institution to our institution. That's why colleges do it.
—Robert Massa of Lafayette College[86]
Further information: Student financial aid in the United States
Applying for financial aid[edit]


The FAFSA website is www.fafsa.ed.gov and is free. Other websites look like the official FAFSA website, but are deliberately misleading.
There are many reports that many applicants fail to apply for financial aid when they are qualified for it; one estimate was that 1.8 million students in 2006 who would have qualified for aid did not apply for it.[95] Applying for financial aid is recommended by almost all college admissions advisers, even for middle-class and upscale families applying to private colleges.[10] Each college has its own criteria for determining financial need and loans.[67] One advisor counseled against letting the sticker price of a college dissuade a student from applying, since many of the top colleges have strong endowments allowing them to subsidize expenses, such that the colleges are less expensive than so-called "second tier" or state colleges.[10] College advisors suggest that parents keep financial records, including tax forms, business records, for later use when applying for financial aid,[96] and complete the FAFSA online early in January of their college-bound student's senior year.[35] The earliest that the FAFSA form can be filled out is January first of a student's senior year; in contrast, the CSS Profile can be filled out earlier during the preceding fall.[97] There are reports that many parents make mistakes when filling out the FAFSA information, and mistakes include failing to hit the "submit" button, visiting an incorrect FAFSA website,[98] leaving some fields blank instead of properly entering a zero, spelling names or entering social security numbers or estimating tax data incorrectly.[35] Since FAFSA formulas assume 20% of a student's assets can be used for college expenses as opposed to 6% of a parent's assets, advisors recommend moving funds from student to parent accounts in prior years, including moving funds to a parent-controlled 529 plan tax-advantaged account.[99] Filing taxes early is recommended, but using estimates for FAFSA from previous years is possible provided the numbers are updated later after taxes are filed.[99] There are no fees for applying on the FAFSA site. According to one source, the best time to begin searching for scholarships is before senior year in order to meet deadlines.[35] Several reports confirm that it is important to file aid forms such as the CSS Profile early in the school year.[99] [97]
In addition to cost factors, increasingly colleges are being compared on the basis of the average student debt of their graduates, and US News has developed rankings based on average student indebtedness.[67] A report in the Utne Reader chronicled substantial student indebtedness, and suggested that 37 million Americans in 2009 held student debt, and that nine in ten students used an average of 4.6 credit cards to pay for some educational expenses.[100] The report chronicled an increase in average indebtedness from an average of $2,000 in 1980-81 to over $25,000 in 2009, as well as substantial decreases in Federal aid and Pell grants during that time period.[100]
US News and others suggest another factor overlooked in terms of financing college, which is the length of time it takes to earn a degree. Finishing a year early (in three years) lops off a substantial portion of the overall bill,[67] while taking five years compounds the expense and delays entry into the workforce. Jacques Steinberg suggested that many college-bound students calculate how much debt they were likely to incur each year, and he suggested that debt for all four years of college should total less than the graduate's expected first year's salary after college, and preferably under $40,000.[101] A handful of schools have "free tuition" policies for low income students, so that they graduate loan-free.[102]
Selecting colleges by type[edit]
Picture of buildings, exterior shot

Different types of schools offer different educations: including engineering-oriented colleges such as the Rochester Institute of Technology, which emphasizes teaching, internships, and technical education.
Picture of an interior glass-enclosed space.

Two-year county or community colleges, such as Union County College in New Jersey, are geared for students who live at home and commute to school, and can be a highly affordable alternative to many private colleges as well as public universities.
Picture of a building in a city.

Some colleges focus on one particular area, such as the Juilliard School in New York City, which is highly selective, and specializes in preparing students for careers in dance, music, theater, and the arts.
Although most educational institutions in the U.S. are non-profit, some are for-profit.[103] Colleges and universities in the U.S. vary in terms of goals: some may emphasize a vocational, business, engineering or technical curriculum while others may emphasize a liberal arts curriculum. Many combine some or all of the above. Another consideration is the male-female ratio; overall, 56% of enrolled college students are women, but the male-female ratio varies by college and year and program.[4] Admissions guidance counselors can offer views about whether a public or private school is best, and give a sense of the tradeoffs.


Advisors suggest that community colleges such as Union County College are affordable and help with the transition to four-year institutions. Photo: a geology classroom.
Two-year colleges are often county or community-oriented schools funded by state or local governments, and typically offer the Associates degree (A.A.). They are generally inexpensive,[67] particularly for in-state residents, and are focused on teaching, and accept most applicants meeting minimum grade and SAT score levels. Students commute to school and rarely live in dorms on campus. These schools often have articulation arrangements with four-year state public schools to permit students to transfer. Consultants suggest that community colleges are reasonably priced, and after two years with solid grades and academic performance, many colleges are willing to accept transfers.
Four-year colleges offer Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or Bachelor of Sciences (B.S.) degrees. These are primarily undergraduate institutions, although some might have limited programs at the graduate level.
Universities have both undergraduate and graduate students. Graduate programs grant a variety of Master's degrees including M.B.A.s or M.F.A.s. The highest academic degree is the Doctor of Philosophy or Ph.D. Medical schools award either the M.D. or D.O. degrees while law schools award the J.D. degree. Public and private universities are generally research-oriented institutions that teach both an undergraduate and graduate students.
Liberal arts colleges are four-year institutions that emphasize interactive instruction, although research is still a component of these institutions. They are usually residential colleges with most students living on campus in dorms. They tend to have smaller enrollments, class sizes, and lower student-teacher ratios than universities, and encourage teacher-student interaction with classes taught by full-time faculty members rather than graduate students known as teaching assistants. There are further distinctions within the category of liberal arts colleges: some are coeducational, women's colleges, or men's colleges. There are historically black colleges; in addition, while most schools are secular, some stress a particular religious orientation. Most are private colleges but there are some public ones.
State colleges and universities. Since they are usually subsidized with state funds, tuitions tend to be lower than private schools. They tend to be large, sometimes with student bodies numbering in the tens of thousands, and offer a variety of programs. They are generally less selective in terms of admissions than elite competitive private schools, and are usually less expensive, sometimes half or a third as much as a private institution for in-state residents; the affordability may be leading more students in recent years to choose public or state-subsidized or community colleges.[104] There are reports that in budget shortfalls in the past few years, many state schools are selectively trying to attract higher-paying out-of-state residents.[105] In the past few years, competition for spots in public institutions has become more intense, with some state schools such as the State University of New York reporting record numbers of students saying "yes" to their offers of admission, unlike years previously.[104] There are reports that tuitions at state universities are rising faster than private universities.[69] Flagship state universities are usually the most prominent public schools in a state, and are often the oldest, have the most funding, and are often the least expensive public college.[40]
Outdoors men in gray uniforms throwing hats in the air.

Specialty colleges such as the United States Military Academy at West Point have particular admissions requirements; applicants must be nominated by their congressperson.


Students learning massage therapy at the New York College of Health Professions in New York State.
Engineering or technical schools specialize in technical and scientific subjects. Some programs can be more competitive and applicants are often evaluated on the basis of grades in subjects such as mathematics (particularly calculus), physics, chemistry, mathematics, and science courses.[69] Military schools such as the United States Military Academy specialize in officer training.