University & College Accountability Network

College Search Resources Multiply

2010-01-13T10:35:00.000-05:00

Here at U-CAN, we're inveterate watchers of what's happening in Web-based college search tools, and in recent months we've seen an explosion of new sites. Some are really useful. Some, frankly, are nothing more than marketing devices to push the uninformed toward certain institutions.

Just recently we found a nice list of useful Web search tools -- "Top 10 College Websites for Finding Great Schools" -- posted by Lynn O'Shaughnessy on her College Solutions blog. (Thanks to Lynn for including U-CAN in that list.) She's picked up some of the best of the newbies, along with those that have been around for a while.

What sites have you found most useful? Any horror stories about the misleading sites out there?

A New Spin on the U-CAN Blog

2009-12-01T16:04:00.002-05:00

The University and College Accountability Network (U-CAN) provides information for prospective students and their parents on American private colleges and universities across a wide variety of characteristics. The goal of U-CAN was to encourage parents and students to sit around the kitchen table and compare schools with easy to read profiles.

The goal of the U-CAN Blog is to continue that conversation. Here, we will post information and stories about college admissions and hopefully get your feedback on the issues facing prospective students today.

If you have got ideas about what you’d like to see in the blog, please send us a note using the comments section.

For Participating Institution Contacts: U-CAN Update Schedule Survey

2009-04-28T16:17:00.001-04:00

We've seen U-CAN grow to nearly 800 participating institutions over the past year and continue to refine the system so that it provides the information that consumers want, and is easy for institutions to use. A crucial factor in U-CAN's success is its comparability of information across institutions.

As many of you know, at the beginning of the project we established a semi-annual update schedule modeled after IPEDS reporting, with one update in the fall and another in late spring. Many of you commented during the fall update that this created some confusion, and that it would be useful to have just one update period per year.

We've been working through the various options, and ask for your input. We invite all U-CAN campus contacts to take a short (2 question) survey to indicate updating preferences. We'll use your input to help determine which type of schedule makes the most sense for the majority of U-CAN users. We ask that you submit your response by Wednesday, May 6.

Please take a moment to complete the survey, which is available online.

To give the choices context, we submit the following rationales:

Semi-Annual Updating

Pro: Data on U-CAN profiles will always be as current and up-to-date as that found on the Department of Education's College Navigator consumer info site and institutional Web sites. Con: Since not all information is updated at once, there has been some confusion over what should be updated, causing some institutions to update information in advance of when all institutions can provide it. This compromises data integrity and comparability, and misleads the public as to what data, from what year, they are looking at on individual profiles.

One Annual Update

Pro: Eliminates confusion associated with only updating certain data elements, and removes issues of data integrity and comparability as described above. Con: U-CAN profile data will not always be as current as that found on College Navigator - a lag time of 3-6 months could exist, depending on schedule.

When Should U-CAN Be Updated

May/June:
Pro: Financial aid and graduation statistics will be available on U-CAN before or simultaneously with those appearing on College Navigator

Con: Enrollment and other related data on U-CAN will be close to a year old, and will appear approximately 6 months after posting on College Navigator (i.e. Fall enrollment data will be input the following May/June).

August/September
Pros and Cons would largely depend on when institutions have their Fall enrollment data available - could be the same as pros and cons for May/June. This would also occur simultaneously with the IPEDS data collection cycle.

September/October
Pro: Fall enrollment data and related statistics would be available for input and thus appear on U-CAN in a timely manner.
Con: Financial aid/graduation statistics would appear on U-CAN approximately 3-4 months later than College Navigator, and the collection period would directly overlap with IPEDS. Another con is that tuition/financial information will not be posted until classes begin for a given year.

Improved Version of U-CAN Launched, Participation Continues to Grow

2008-09-17T09:58:00.001-04:00

We are pleased to announce the unveiling of U-CAN "2.0" this morning. The site features two major upgrades: a greatly enhanced search function, increasing the number of searchable variables from three to 17; and a new consumer guide to help families plan for college, search for the best college fit, and navigate the financial aid maze.

The launch of U-CAN 2.0 was recently reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed and an item on the launch appears in the Life section of today's USA Today (page 4D, not available on line).

The enhancements featured in U-CAN 2.0 are driven by findings from a series of consumer focus groups conducted by NAICU in late spring 2008, and from feedback gathered from U-CAN site visitors.

This first major upgrade to U-CAN comes nearly a year after the site was originally launched. Over the past 12 months, U-CAN has experienced a 21-percent increase in campus participation, from 600 to 728 institutions. More than 400,000 users have visited the site, viewing more than a million pages.

The site has been lauded as an important step forward in college transparency by some of higher education's most adamant critics, and praised for its consumer-friendly data, design, and its links to campus Web sites.

In the past year, U-CAN has been covered in more than 100 news stories, including articles in the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, Time, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and many other publications. NAICU is currently conducting a media tour, consisting of one-on-one and small group meetings with journalists from national and trade outlets, to promote U-CAN.

Today, in conjunction with the site re-launch, we will initiate a comprehensive Web marketing plan to drive prospective students and their families to the site. Text ads will be featured on relevant Google keyword search result pages, ads will appear on the Web pages of contextually related news stories, and display ads will target high school students on Facebook. We will follow up with direct mailings to members of the National Association for College Admission Counseling and the Independent Educational Counselors Association later this month, and with advertising in NACAC print and online publications.

If you are a participating institution, we encourage you to use the re-launch as an opportunity to promote your institution's involvement in this important consumer initiative to local media, alumni, and other campus constituencies. You can find an updated U-CAN campus communications outreach toolkit -- with talking points, background on the initiative, sample promotional tools, and other resources -- on the NAICU Web site.

To date, more than 70 percent of NAICU members have joined U-CAN. We have set a goal of 100 percent participation by our institutions. If your college has yet to join U-CAN (or has not yet completed the recent data update), we strongly encourage you to do so. You can sign up by using our simple online form. The U-CAN site also lists institutions that have signed up, but have not yet published their U-CAN profile or updated their data. Please double-check the list to make sure that your institution is not among those whose profiles are not updated. Thank you for your commitment to U-CAN.

A Step Forward for College Transparency, a Milestone for U-CAN

2008-08-13T15:32:00.001-04:00

Number of Private Colleges Participating in the U-CAN Consumer Information Initiative Tops 700!

U-CAN has reached a milestone in campus participation. Nearly 11 months after the free, consumer-focused website was launched, the roster of private colleges and universities signed up to participate has grown to 711 institutions.

Since NAICU unveiled U-CAN on Sept. 26, 2007, with 600 private colleges and universities onboard, the number of participating institutions has grown by 19 percent. The association has 953 member schools, which enroll 85 percent of all students attending private colleges and universities in America.

With a design driven by consumer focus groups, the U-CAN site has been lauded for its rich and consumer-relevant information, and colorful, user-friendly format—by students, parents, college admissions counselors, and policymakers. Since U-CAN went live, more than 358,000 users have visited the site, viewing more than 850,000 pages.

U-CAN "2.0" to Launch in September 2008

U-CAN "2.0" will be launched in mid-September 2008, improving on a college search tool already noted for providing objective, comparable data on the factors that matter most to consumers: student costs broken out by category, tuition trends, admission and graduation rates, average student aid packages, average debt at graduation, and much more.

Site enhancements—growing out of user comments and focus groups with parents and students—will make it among the most searchable websites of its kind. The improved site will also provide guidance on how to prepare academically and financially for college, find the right fit, and navigate the admissions and financial aid processes. NAICU is exploring the development and addition of a new element that would allow consumers to see how colleges are spending their tuition dollars.

First Major U-CAN Data Overhaul A Success

2008-07-25T10:53:00.001-04:00

We're pleased to announce the end of the first major U-CAN update period. Those profiles that have been updated are now posted on the U-CAN Web site.

The results of the update are better than expected. More than 90 percent of existing, published profiles have been updated, and more than 50 new institutions have been added to the published profile list. All told, there are now 709 participating institutions and 660 published profiles.

We've appreciated your patience as we worked through the process. Your comments and questions will be used as we refine the process for the October update period. Within the next few weeks, we'll send a formal survey to solicit your feedback. We're currently making the final tweaks to the public pages. If your institution published previously, but has not yet updated the U-CAN profile data, you can do so anytime by logging into your account, making updates, and clicking on the "Publish" button. This will move your profile from the "Awaiting Updates" list to the master list of updated profiles.

Remember that all institutions are free to update or modify their information (within the parameters of the instructions) using the publish process at any time.

Thanks again for your participation. We look forward to working with you to improve the process for the October update period.

U-CAN Data Update Period Now Open

2008-06-10T11:11:00.001-04:00

U-CAN is now in the process of updating data! The following note was sent to all participating campuses this morning:

U-CAN Participants,

First, a word of thanks for your patience as we work through the process of the first complete data update of the U-CAN profiles. We've established a system that is designed to maintain consistency of data across all profiles, and ask for your help in making sure that the information provided to consumers is as accurate and up to date as possible.

We've seen the popularity of U-CAN grow dramatically over its first nine months. To date, nearly 300,000 visitors have viewed more than 800,000 pages. Recent focus groups of parents of college-age students have found U-CAN a valuable source of vital information in making college choices. Some individual profiles have received over 20,000 views, and an increasing number of high school college counselors are using U-CAN in advising students. What makes U-CAN valuable to students and their families is that the information is comparable across all profiles. To maintain comparability, the information in U-CAN should reflect the most current data available to institutions.

As mentioned in our previous email, there will be two data update periods this year. The first begins today, June 10, and ends on July 23, 2008. The second will take place in late October to incorporate the new IPEDS information available at that time.

To facilitate data updating, we've set aside approximately six weeks for institutions to put current data into the system. At the end of the period, we will change the public side of U-CAN to reflect the new data. During the 6/10-7/23 update period the public template with the old dates will still be active on the site. To make certain information is presented accurately to the public, we will temporarily suspend the public publishing of new data until the end of the update period. Any changes made during this time will be saved within the system, but not made available on the public site until July 23, when the new template is released. At that point, we will republish only those profiles that have updated their information. Institutions that have not completed the data updating by July 23 will be held off-line pending updating, and will be republished to the live U-CAN site as soon as data updates have been made.

To update you must first check the new "update for 2008?" box at the top of the main data entry page. This toggles your data entry form to reflect the new dates and lets us know that you have checked the accuracy of your information. Instructions for data entry, revised for 2008-09, are available at http://www.naicu.edu/u-caninstructions

IMPORTANT NOTE: On July 23, only those institutions that have indicated that their information has been updated by checking the "update for 2008?" box will be available to the public on the new 2008 template. Institutions that have not updated their profiles by July 23 will be listed in a new category, "awaiting updates." Following July 23, institutions may publish information on the new template at any time simply by checking the "updated for 2008" box.

What's New?

2007-11-29T12:24:00.000-05:00

We're pleased to announce a new enhancement to the U-CAN site. The home page now includes a box highlighting newly added profiles and those with recent updates.

The new feature is the result of user comments - one of several that we hope to implement in the near future. U-CAN is designed to be responsive to consumer needs, so all comments are considered as we make improvements.

Have an idea that would make U-CAN better? Leave a comment here, or send a note to ucan@naicu.edu.

U-CAN Pops Up in USA Today, Washington Times

2007-11-05T13:17:00.000-05:00

A front-page Life section story ("Beyond rankings: A new way to look for a college") in today's USA Today refers to U-CAN, noting that more than 600 private institutions have signed up to participate since NAICU launched the web site in September. The article, which looks at the use of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) for institutional self-assessment, reports that "in a bid to circumvent federal oversight," NAICU and other higher ed groups have "developed or are developing web sites through which consumers can get information, including NSSE scores in some cases, in easy-to-compare formats."

The story comes a week after the Washington Times published a letter from NAICU President David Warren that describes how U-CAN helps students and parents make the best college choice.

U-CAN Needs You for YouTube!

2007-10-30T09:50:00.000-04:00

Now that we’re comfortably past the launch and initial roll-out, we’re ramping up our Web outreach strategy. A key component is a YouTube channel that showcases videos about U-CAN, college admissions, and stories from students about the college search process, all from the student perspective.

Know of a video lurking out there that would be perfect to highlight? Have some students interested in creating and submitting a video, and having it featured on our site? Extra points for humorous or otherwise entertaining spots. Let us know – the more content we can post, the better. Remember - videos need to be of general interest and not self-promotional.

We’ve created a basic channel and posted a few videos to get started, but need more. Click here to see the UCAN-Network YouTube channel.

U-CAN Celebrates First Month, Continues to Grow

2007-10-26T14:57:00.000-04:00

In the month since U-CAN was released publicly, the statistics show that the consumer information project is thriving and reaching a wide audience. The early success is only expected to grow as we enter the second stage of the roll-out, which includes targeted outreach to high school college counselors, radio talk show interviews nationally, and Facebook and YouTube campaigns aimed directly at students.

Here's a snapshot of U-CAN stats since the launch on September 26:

Total participating institutions: 686
Total profiles published publicly: 500
Total visits to the U-CAN site: 63,978
Total page views: 402,738
Profile with the most hits since launch: Adelphi University, New York (2,253 hits)

U-CAN's Greatest Hits

2007-10-19T14:44:00.000-04:00

We’re starting to look at some of the initial trends and web stats for the U-CAN site, and have compiled a list of the top ten institutional profiles viewed since October 18, when we added a hit counter to each profile.

What's the secret of the top ten U-CAN participants in getting the most hits? We'll be able to give some more definitive answers once we have more data, but some early thoughts after looking at the current top ten are below (in order starting with the most hits):

Adelphi University - Uses their U-CAN profile as a “Quick Facts” link from the “About” section of their website (http://www.adelphi.edu/about/)
Carleton College - Published an article on U-CAN in their alumni newsletter (http://apps.carleton.edu/alumni/events/newsletter/)
Fairfield University - Added a link to their U-CAN profile from their “Admissions” section (http://www.fairfield.edu/x1544.html)
Swarthmore College - Added a link to their U-CAN profile from the “Data, Facts and Stats” section of their admissions page (http://www.swarthmore.edu/x15226.xml)
Albertus Magnus College - Displayed the U-CAN logo and a link to their profile from their homepage (http://www.albertus.edu/)
Bucknell University - Published a news article that links to their profile (http://www.bucknell.edu/x38345.xml)
Lafayette College - Added the U-CAN logo and a link to their profile to the header of their web template (http://www.lafayette.edu/)
Duke University - Published a news article on U-CAN that provides a link to their profile (http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2007/10/ucan.html)
Johns Hopkins University - Published a news article with a link to their profile (http://www.jhu.edu/gazette/2007/15oct07/15newweb.html)
Union College – Added a feature on their U-CAN profile to their homepage (http://www.union.edu)

Have a good idea about publicizing your U-CAN profile? Let us know, and we'll compile a list of the best ways campuses have found to increase the hits to their profile.

The Washington Post Ponders U-CAN

2007-10-16T13:42:00.000-04:00

Washington Post education writer Jay Mathews wants to know: "Can U-CAN help you find a good college?" His online Admissions 101 blog poses that question to readers. The response? Sparse, but positive. Poster "contrarymom" writes that U-CAN is a "great addition" to the college search process and that "U-CAN is now bookmarked in my computer." She also has good recommendations on how to improve the search function. As U-CAN version 1.0 evolves over the coming months, the number of search variables will grow. As we work to enhance the consumer's experience on U-CAN, we will carefully assess the feedback of users such as contrarymom. In fact, we encourage others to share their thoughts about U-CAN -- feel free to send us an e-mail at ucan@naicu.edu.

U-CAN Website Traffic Skyrockets

2007-10-04T16:21:00.000-04:00

Following U-CAN's public launch last week, we've seen significant increase in traffic to the site. Traffic reached a new peak on Tuesday, with 2,466 visitors viewing 212,170 pages.

Much of this traffic is coming from institutions who have linked to their profiles from a dedicated button on the website (which we recommend) or through a news release. Our thanks go to the following top ten referrers to U-CAN (in order by number of referrals) as of 10/4/07:

Union College
Lehigh University
Bates College
Hamline University
Albright College
Furman University
DePauw University
Bucknell University
St. John's College
Robert Morris University

U-CAN Goes Live!

2007-09-26T17:33:00.000-04:00

Potential college students and their parents have gained a new resource for exploring and comparing private colleges and universities. The U-CAN consumer information web site, consumer-driven in its content and format, was publicly unveiled this morning at a news conference.

"We are very excited about the launch of U-CAN," said NAICU President David L. Warren. "There are many consumer sources out there, but U-CAN offers something distinct.

"The college profiles provide a unique mix of 42 quantitative elements, narrative descriptions, and 25 hyperlinks to campus web sites," Warren said. "Institutions not only report cut-and-dry statistics, but also have the opportunity to express what makes them special."

Over 600 private colleges and universities have signed on to participate in the initiative, with over 440 profiles published so far. Another 150 profiles are expected to be published within the week.For more information, check out NAICU's press release and media kit.

U-CAN Ready to Launch!

2007-09-25T16:29:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow finally sees the launch of U-CAN! After more than a year in development, the site is ready to go. More than 600 institutions have signed on to participate, and more than 400 profiles will be live for the launch.

In the morning, the public will have access to a wealth of information, including dozens of links for each school that gives campus context to important data on enrollment, admissions, cost, financial aid, and student diversity. These links take users directly to institutional websites to get a better sense of what life is like on campus.

We look forward to your comments about the site: www.ucan-network.org

For information about tomorrow's press activities, check out the U-CAN News Room.

U-CAN Rockets Past 500 Participating Institutions

2007-09-12T15:37:00.000-04:00

In a flurry of activity on Tuesday, the roster of U-CAN participants shot past the 500-participant mark, and by late afternoon stood at 512 private colleges and universities that had signed up to participate.

Congratulations to Washington University in St. Louis on becoming the 500th institution to participate in the project.

The complete list of institutions that were added since the last update:

Brown University (Rhode Island)
Culver-Stockton College (Missouri)
D’Youville College (New York)
DePauw University (Indiana)
Dominican University (Illinois)
Edward Waters College (Florida)
Grinnell College (Iowa)
Lawrence Technological University (Michigan)
Marymount University (Virginia)
Newman University (Kansas)
Nichols College (Massachusetts)
Northwest Christian College (Oregon)
Park University (Missouri)
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Indiana)
Saint Joseph’s College (Indiana)
St. Catharine College (Kentucky)
Washington University in St. Louis (Missouri)
Whittier College (California)

Swarms of New Participants Means More Information for Consumers

2007-09-05T17:14:00.000-04:00

The end of August and Labor Day weekend saw increased interest by institutions in participating in U-CAN. The participating institutions list has swelled to nearly 490, making it likely that 500 or more institutions will have signed on to participate by the September 26 launch.

New arrivals:

American University (District of Columbia)
Anderson University (Indiana)
Assumption College (Massachusetts)
Belhaven College (Mississippi)
Berea College (Kentucky)
Bowdoin College (Maine)
Bridgewater College (Virginia)
Bucknell University (Pennsylvania)
College of Santa Fe (New Mexico)
College of the Atlantic (Maine)
Converse College (South Carolina)
Dallas Christian College (Texas)
Dartmouth College (New Hampshire)
Gettysburg College (Pennsylvania)
Harvard University (Massachusetts)
Hobart & William Smith Colleges (New York)
Houghton College (New York)
Judson College (Alabama)
Martin Methodist College (Tennessee)
Mount Ida College (Massachusetts)
Mount Mercy College (Iowa)
Mount Vernon Nazarene University (Ohio)
Myers University (Ohio)
Salve Regina University (Rhode Island)
Seton Hall University (New Jersey)
Simpson College (Iowa)
Villanova University (Pennsylvania)
Warren Wilson College (North Carolina)
Westmont College (California)

Strong Consumer Demand, the Best College Data ... and Now a Launch Date

2007-08-30T15:47:00.000-04:00

After more than a year in development, the U-CAN web site is now set to go live in just a few weeks. On Wednesday, September 26, we will launch U-CAN during a news conference in Washington, D.C. At the start of the morning press event (time to be announced), the U-CAN Web site will become accessible to the public.

Georgetown College Joins U-CAN: Participant List Tops 450

2007-08-24T14:23:00.000-04:00

Georgetown College in Kentucky today became the 450th institution to sign-up for U-CAN.

Others who signed up since the last update:

La Roche College (Pennsylvania)
Hamline University (Minnesota)
St. Edwards University (Texas)
Marist College (New York)
Boston College (Massachusetts)
Dominican University of California
Paul Smith's College (New York)
Kentucky Mountain Bible College (Kentucky)
Marywood University (Pennsylvania)
Marian College of Fund Du Lac (Wisconsin(
Lyon College (Arkansas)
Waynesburg University (Pennsylvania)
Heritage University (Washington)
Chestnut Hill College (Pennsylvania)
Marymount Manhattan College (New York)
Southeastern University (District of Columbia)
Northwest University (Washington)

U-CAN Opens for Data Entry by Participating Institutions

2007-08-24T11:13:00.001-04:00

Today NAICU opened U-CAN for data entry by participating institutions. Nearly 450 colleges and universities received their log-in information and began the process of putting their information into the system.

That puts us one step closer to providing important consumer information to prospective students and parents. Stay tuned for updates on the progress of the the data entry.

Growing and Growing

2007-08-21T15:26:00.000-04:00

The number of institutions participating in U-CAN continues to grow. The list now tops 430, with new institutions added daily.

Today's additions:
Denison University (Ohio)
University of Indianapolis (Indiana)
Rockhurst University (Missouri)
Brenau University (Georgia)
College of Wooster (Ohio)
Santa Clara University (California)

Click here for the complete list of participating institutions.

Deciphering Morse Code

2007-08-21T15:21:00.001-04:00

In a posting on Morse Code yesterday, U.S. News data director Bob Morse writes that the magazine “welcome[s] the publication of more higher education data” from alternative sources. Of course, we thought that welcome would extend to U-CAN. Alas, it wasn’t to be. Nothing but rotten tomatoes for our consumer-informed college information source. No mention of how focus groups with students and parents are driving the concise content and user-friendly design of U-CAN’s college and university profiles. No kudos for making our rich repository of more than 400 profiles free to the public. No compliments on how nicely the profiles will interface with targeted pages of institution web sites. NAICU, for the record, takes no stance on the validity of the U.S. News rankings.

Spotlight on U-CAN Grows Brighter

2007-08-21T15:10:00.000-04:00

Newspapers in Texas (here and here), Indiana, and Ohio are the latest media outlets to cite the U-CAN initiative. Their stories yesterday and today follow a slew of other clips that have mentioned the NAICU consumer information tool and highlighted participating institutions since last Friday, when U.S. News released its 2008 rankings. Take a look at the complete listing of U-CAN stories, including pieces in the Washington Post, New York Times, and Time magazine (here and here). Let us know if we’ve missed any.

The U-CAN Blog

2007-08-21T14:13:00.001-04:00

Welcome to the U-CAN blog. We will use this space to keep you updated on important information about U-CAN, media coverage, and other news and events. We welcome your comments.