College Review Sites – Protecting Your Investment in Your Education

Steve Rawlinson

In this day and age, college — and even graduate school — is a necessity. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, young adults with postsecondary degrees — bachelors and up — have lower unemployment rates and earn an average of $19,000 more than adults with just a high school diploma.

College is also expensive. The National Center for Education Statistics reported the average 2010 tuition costs at nearly $16,000 for public four-year institutions, and almost $33,000 for private four-year schools. Meanwhile, College Data reports the average public tuition costs went up to approximately $22,000 for public institutions, and dropped to approximately $30,000 for private. And those costs are only for one year, at the end of a standard four-year run, the average student could have paid upwards of $80,000. Include graduate school and the total jumps to well over $100,000.

Financial aid sites, such as FAFSA.gov, and the college financial aid office can help you find loans, grants, and scholarships to pay for school, as can websites like Scholarships.com . But when you consider the amount of money you will be investing in your education, it is also important to make sure you get your money’s worth.

You want to know that the school you choose is the right fit for your learning style, offers the programs and courses you need to succeed, and provides you with the tools and resources you need to compete in the job market after graduation.

Go to any college website and you will see tons of information about how excellent their academic programs are, how successful their graduates are, how knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and dedicated their academic staff is, and all of them promising limitless earning potential and a wide-open job market upon graduation. Visit a college admissions office and tour campus, and you’ll get the same information. The main job of a college website and admissions office is to sell you on the school and, for that reason, they will always put the school’s best foot forward — but that doesn’t give you the whole picture.

If you want to make an informed decision about education, your best bet is to check the official college website and gather information from college review sites.

Sites like Students Review and Guide to Online Schools give you a picture of a particular school from the points of view of the students and recent graduates – people who have actually experienced that school first-hand, and can answer questions like:

• What’s the course load really like?
• How helpful and knowledgeable are the faculty and staff?
• How well can I find work after I graduate?
• How well can I find an internship?

Because there are so many review sites available, you don’t need to know the name of particular site, just type “Reviews of…” and the school name into any search engine and you’ll get several usable results.

For example, a search of “Reviews of Western Governors University” yields several sites, all containing student reviews of the university. The information at each site varies, but most include ratings for value/cost, quality of instruction, and financial aid as well as written reviews of specific programs and instructors, or of the school in general. Some sites also include pros and cons of the university, information about whether or not the reviewer would recommend the school or program to others, and information on the types of students who could best succeed at a given school.

For example reviews for Western Governors University, from Guide to Online Schools, shows that 77 percent of reviewers recommend the school, and 85 percent of reviewers say that Western Governors University has improved their career. One reviewer states that “WGU [is] a good choice for some students” and explains students who are disciplined and tech savvy, would do well at the school, while those who need a more structured classroom environment would have better luck at a traditional brick and mortar school.

Another reviewer states “I love WGU but it’s not for everyone,” and explains that the education models would not work well for students who need to listen to lectures, or who have difficulty learning just from the textbook.  College review sites also have negative reviews; information you might never encounter at the official admissions sites.

Where you go to college is one of the biggest decisions you can make in your life, with serious impact on your future success. College review sites can help you make an informed decision about your academic and professional future.

Steve Rawlinson has been creating online companies since 1998. Steve currently applies his web development expertise and entrepreneurial experience as the President of Rawlison Geospatial Inc. and OnlineDegreeReviews.org, Connect with Steve on Linkedin, or Google+.