Listing the 10 Worst Colleges is a public service I’m providing as an inoculation against the annual fall media college ranking mania. It is a reminder that rankings are flawed and have their limitations. While they can provide useful information, too few people bother to look beyond the ranking order to evaluate the data used in creating the rankings.
To get an idea of what I’m talking about, let’s take a look at the following list of the 10 worst colleges (yes, there are more than 10 because of ties):
Assume you are buying a car. All other factors are equal. Do you pick the one that costs $15,000 or $30,000? Seems like a no-brainer–go with the cheaper one.
If you have kids old enough for you to be thinking about the college admissions process and how you’ll pay for it, you also need to be thinking about how you’re going to compare colleges. Because the fact is that you’re going to be comparing lots of colleges, the sooner the better. You’re going to compare colleges when you decide which colleges to visit, which admissions reps to talk to at the college fair, which colleges to apply to, and which one to ultimately attend. So take this opportunity to consider the various ways you can actually compare colleges and their relative worth to your family’s situation.
With 81 public and private higher education institutions with 500 or more full-time undergraduates in Texas, how do you decide which are the best colleges in Texas? Well, a lot of people will just look at US News Best College Rankings and consider it problem solved. In that case, the list of best colleges in Texas is easy:
