415 Colleges with at least 50% Acceptance Rates and 50% Graduation Rates

Woman with computer list of 50-50 collegesI’ve finally finished updating my list of 50-50 colleges. There’s nothing sophisticated about the 50-50 list, it’s simply a list of all colleges and universities that accept at least 50% of students and have at least a 50% graduation rate. That means that these are schools most students could get into and have a good chance of graduating as well.

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6 Options for Public Liberal Arts Colleges

college campusLiberal Arts Colleges are known for their focus on undergraduate teaching. They’re generally small with few or no graduate students and rank high in student engagement in research, internships, and culminating senior experiences. They can be very good for preparing students for graduate school. And they’re overwhelmingly private institutions.

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Moneyball College Admissions Rules: Ignore Peer Pressure

Fish swmming against crowdI’m always amazed at the absolute certainty people have of the superiority of one college over another. Spend a little time on College Confidential and you’ll see high school students looking for advice on which school to attend bombarded with definitive statements of the overwhelming excellence of one school compared to another. Sometimes they’ll point to rankings but more often than not, the opinions will be based on their experience with just one of the schools in question.

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400 Plus Full Ride Scholarships

Money as box with ribbonI’ve been spending some time talking about a Moneyball approach to college admissions. The idea is to get the best college education without sacrificing your financial future. And what better Moneyball solution for college than a full-ride scholarship? Want to know where to find such scholarships? Wendy Nelson at My Kid’s College Choice has created a spreadsheet listing over 400 college sponsored full-ride scholarships.

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Moneyball College Admissions Rules: Use Your College Experience to Get What You Want

Pencil erasing a mazeAt first glance, Billy Beane’s fourth Moneyball rule wouldn’t seem a good fit for the college application process: “Know exactly who you want and go after him (Never mind who they say they want to trade).”  After all, it doesn’t seem likely that many students will convince colleges to  change admission requirements or how much financial aid offered simply based on their determination to attend a specific school.

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Moneyball College Admission Rules: Know How Much You’re Paying and Why

balance with green and blue ballsI don’t know about you, but I’m always leery when the price of a good or service I’m considering purchasing isn’t readily available. The phrase, “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it” starts echoing in my head. However, although most college websites don’t have their costs readily accessible, it doesn’t seem to be an issue for most people. I have to admit, I didn’t really start noticing it until I start writing this post.

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Moneyball College Admission Rules: A College is not a Guarantee

Dead piggy bank If you’re looking for data for your own Moneyball college admission search, check out the sample spreadsheet in the DIY College Search Spreadsheet class for free.


In Moneyball, Michael Lewis lists five rules that Billy Beane uses when shopping for baseball players just before the trading deadline. It’s important to remember that these aren’t just any players.

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