Paying for college isn't like paying for a car or a house. It's easy to research cars and houses to the point that you really do know exactly what you're getting. Have a mechanic look over the car before you buy it. Get the house inspected. Read what Consumer Reports says about the car. Research the schools in the house's neighborhood. Sure, there can be unforeseen surprises. But in most cases, you know what to expect once you buy it.
Colleges can't be measured like that because there's a gigantic unknown in the equation–the student.
You can pay top dollar for a private college that offers small classes, personal attention from professors and the most supportive, encouraging environment you can find. Still, your kid has to take advantage of all those opportunities for it to mean anything. You can send your kid to the cheapest public school in your state that has huge classes, and professors who care more about their research than they do their teaching. If your student commits to extracting the maximum value from her four years there, she'll probably get a great education.
Choosing a college is a lot like buying a gym membership. If you enroll in the nicest gym in town but don't utilizes all the classes and trainers (or if you just don't go at all), the guy who works out every day with old dumbbells in his garage will be in much better shape than you will be.
I think colleges can and should be rigorously evaluated. But they can't be measured or ranked. You can't research your way to a college that guarantees future success. The student is the X-factor in any college decision.
So when you're trying to decide whether or not a particular college is worth the investment, don't forget to evaluate your student, too.
Bob Sacamanto says
College is like a gym membership because unmotivated people sign up for a gym membership expecting to get fit but never do. Similarly, college students pay for college but don’t show up to class, yet still expect to have a decent job when they graduate. It has nothing to with what resources are used, it has to do with expectations of success that aren’t met because of lack of motivation.
All respected research professors care more about their research than they do about teaching. Research pays the bills through grants and brings prestige and money to the university. Having a cutting edge researcher teaching your class is a tremendous advantage. Let’s see a show of hands for those who want the Nobel laureate teaching and those who want a senior lecturer with no research program teaching? Why not learn from the best, even if their top priority isn’t teaching? Honestly, teaching freshman physics to a freshman is not as exciting or meaningful as discovering the mysteries of the universe? But who wouldn’t take a class from Stephen Hawking? Why should the student care if the professor’s research is the highest priority? It absolutely should be. Professors don’t do research as a passing obsession, they do it for all of us.