Whether you’re a high school student wanting to look into your college options or a parent trying to get ahead of the game, the college research and application process can be confusing. With 4,000 degree-granting institutions in the United States, how are you supposed to find out which one is the right fit for you?
Luckily, ED has a great resource that makes the process of finding a college easier. The College Navigator helps you find, organize, and keep track of the schools that are best suited for you. Here’s a list of the top 5 ways to use this tool:
1. Cost Calculator
The Navigator estimates student expenses for each college, including tuition, books, supplies, and room and board. Also provided is the net price of attendance and links to each school’s calculator.
2. Financial Aid
College Navigator reports every college’s financial aid awards, breaking them into categories such as number of students at the school who receive aid and average amount of aid received.
3. Graduation Rates
Data are presented on color-coded graphs that make the numbers easy to understand whether students are staying in school and completing.
4. Student Loan Default Rates
You can see whether former a college’s students are repaying their student loans. If too many are defaulting, it’s a sign the school isn’t preparing them for success after graduation.
5. Compare Your Favorites
Add colleges and universities that you like to a My Favorites tab. You can compare two or more schools and export results to a spreadsheet.
The college application process is an important one, but it doesn’t have to be stressful. With College Navigator, you can narrow your search and stay connected to your prospective schools’ admissions offices. Before you know it you’ll be on your way to college that’s right for you.
Alexandra Strott is a student at Middlebury College and an intern in ED’s Office of Communications and Outreach
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College navigator is a really helpful tool for selection of colleges. For students and the parents alike, it’s really a mighty troublesome task to look for the colleges that fall under specific requirements. This tool has made it all the more easy.
I have an 8 year old and we’re already stressing over financing his college education.
Thanks for recommending the College Navigator. We will definitely bookmark this page and take advantage of it.
Now a days it’s very much expensive to get education… people make education as a business & because of that it’s become so expensive… there are lots of movie released… how education is becoming more and more expensive….
I have spent so much money to get the education & become a part of “corruption” but now I want to do completely against the education system & want to do as much less expensive as I can do.
It’s good to read very few of school & university think out of a box & given chance to those who are not afforded to study… for higher or lower school’s & university.