The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Wired Campus

September 25, 2007

College Comparison Web Site Debuts

Want to compare colleges, but don’t believe in rankings? Check out the new University and College Accountability Network Web site, when it goes live tomorrow.

Produced by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, UCAN, as it calls itself, contains data from more than 500 institutions of higher education. There is information on enrollment, courses of study, accreditation, faculty-student ratios, and graduation rates—all provided by the institutions. There is also information provided by the U.S. Department of Education on average student-loan sizes, overall tuition, and undergraduate class sizes.

The colleges can be searched by city, state, distance from home, and affiliation.

UCAN doesn’t rank schools, but we’d be interested in your ranking of UCAN. You can tell us if UCAN is useful: Just add a comment by clicking the button at the end of this story. —Josh Fischman

Posted on Tuesday September 25, 2007 | Permalink |

Comments

  1. UCAN gets an F in my book. The fact that half of the site’s main navigation is dedicated to press coverage speaks volumes.

    Is the data self reported? The FAQ only says data should come from someone in the IR department but UCAN admittedly doesn’t verify submitted information. Very little of the info can’t be found on a university’s website in the FactBook or other areas. Nor does the site provide for any comparison between institutions. Visitors can pull info from one institution then navigate to the next, but this could be done even without UCAN.

    The navigation is difficult and requires that a user mouse-over nearly every icon to see if it’s navigable (see “Student Life”). Headings and data are displayed awkwardly (see “Average Undergraduate Loans Owed At Graduation”). There is no way to “save” a university for later viewing unless a user opens a new browser window. Accessibility is lacking, with little alt text causing issues for screen readers.

    What’s the point of the site again?

    — Travis    Sep 27, 01:13 PM    #

  2. Awsom text, i really like it
    Prasa codzienna
    Rajdy
    Telefony
    Wygaszacze
    Komputery
    Darmowe programy antywirusowe
    Kawaly
    Wzor listu motywacyjnego
    Zyczenia
    Znaczenie snów
    Sport
    Forum graczy
    Pomoc mapa
    Sprzet Komputerowy
    Piosenki
    Statusy gg
    Imiona
    Darmowe Programy
    Gta sa
    Filmy animowane
    Nowe gry
    Gry
    Gta Online
    Aforyzmy
    Znane cytaty
    Usuwanie wirusów
    Cheaty
    Fotografia Cyfrowa
    Darmowe sms
    Internet

    — Adaddm    Oct 12, 08:35 PM    #

Commenting is closed for this article.