Last week I talked about the U.S. News & World Report college rankings.  (Read the entire post here.)
While the top 25 had many of the extremely prestigious (and costly and low acceptance rate) colleges that everyone knows, the schools from 26 to 50 show where the real value in education is right now.  Thirteen of these are state schools that have very high acceptance rates, including the University of Illinois which has an acceptance rate over 71%, and very reasonable tuition for in-state students.  At a time when the economy is going down and college expenses are going up, it makes a lot of sense to look at the very good state-sponsored schools in your state for a quality education.  It is also important to find out if you state has any in-state tuition reciprocity agreements with neighboring states.  This can greatly increase the number of schools available to you in your search. 
One final note about this list.  There are several different branches from the University of California listed in the top 50.  While Cal Berkeley and UCLA do rank much higher than San Diego, Davis, Irvine, and Santa Barbara, this does illustrate that an excellent state system can translate into all the schools being good. 
Follow these links for all the information you will need on the schools from 26 - 50 in the rankings:

University of Michigan

Recently U.S. News and World Report released their rankings of colleges and universities in the United States.  (You can see the entire article here.)  To no one's surprise, Harvard was ranked number 1, and schools Princeton, Yale, Stanford, MIT, Cornell, Cal Tech and Duke were all in the top 10. 

The top 25 universities illustrates that with prestige comes cost.  There are only 3 state schools listed in the top 25 (UC - Berkeley at 21, University of Virginia at 23, and UCLA at 25), one private school with tuition and fees under $30,000 - Rice University, and only one school with an acceptance rate over 35% - University of Virginia.  The three state schools were also the schools with the three highest enrollments, which helped their acceptance rates.

Later this week, I will talk about the bargains in the list (most of which are in the second 25 universities.

For more information on each of the schools in the top 25, please follow these links:

Harvard
Princeton
Yale

There is an excellent article regarding the Beloit College Mindset List, which includes 60 cultural landmarks for incoming college freshmen.  (The entire article is here.)  It points out that the current incoming freshman class has lived in an all digital world and do not have the same points of reference as previous generations. 
While this should not come as a surprise to anyone, I do think that there are educators in this country who need to be reminded of this often.  For education to be really effective, the teachers need to have a similar point of reference as the students.  If they fail to do this, many of their lessons will be lost.  This is especially important in higher education where tenure (aka longevity) is rewarded so highly.  Our educators need to understand and even relate to their students and the experiences they have grown up with or they will have a very difficult time passing on the wisdom that has come with that longevity.

As news about the overall scores on the ACT college entrance exam are released, we can see that there is good news concerning the overall education that our recent high school graduates has received.  (See Yahoo News article  for the entire story.)  As more students are taking the ACT, a record 43% of last year's graduating class, the scores are dipping, but only slightly.  This is especially good news considering three states are requiring all students to take the exam.  (This number goes up to five states next year.)  This demonstrates that even those graduates who aren't planning on attending college are still receiving a well-round high school education.  This will be a trend that will be worth watching as more high schoolers take the ACT in the coming years.

There have been a lot of reports recently regarding findings about the SATs and their recently added essay section.  The basic story is that the new (and longer) SAT test doesn't provide a much better predictor of an applicant's college success than the older version without the essay section.  Here is a link to the Newsday writeup of the story.
While we all know that admissions tests are long and boring (and don't do a good job of predicting college success), they are still a very important part of the admissions process and a part that colleges still take very seriously.  If you are getting ready to apply for college, don't let these reports slow down your preparation for the admissions exams.  It would even be a good idea to get a practice book for the exam that you are preparing for.  Finally, if you are going to take the SAT, I would recommend doing several practice essays, as few students have done a lot of this type of work in high school.  It is important to learn to quickly brainstorm and organize your ideas and then put them on paper. 
While these reports may slow down other students' preparations, the SATs and the essay section are likely here to stay, so make sure that you are prepared for them.

Just because you plan on having a fun summer away from classes, doesn't mean that it can't be a productive one.  One of the best ways to have fun and still learn a lot is to learn a new language while traveling abroad. 
The easiest (and cheapest) way for college students from the U.S. to do this is to learn Spanish in Central or South America.  The flights aren't too expensive and there are Spanish schools in most of the towns that tourists would go to.  And the schools are very inexpensive compared to taking classes in the U.S.  Most schools charge $100 or less for a week of one-on-one training.  Many of these schools also have families that you can stay with for very little money.  Staying with one of these families will also give you an opportunity to really get to know what it is like to live in these countries.  You can even bounce from town to town spending a week in each place at a different school.  A quick Google search can get you on the way to finding a place where you can learn another language and another culture. 

Most people in academia tell students that they should avoid Wikipedia because its content can't be trusted.  This is obviously sound advice given the fact that anyone can make edits to Wikipedia.  However, many of these people take a view that I consider is a bit too hardline.
While no student should ever reference Wikipedia in a paper or take its entries as gospel, it can be a very helpful tool in getting an overview on a subject.  Also, since Wikipedia entries usually have a great deal of references, it can direct the student to these other sites very quickly.  (Something that is not always as easy when just doing a Google search.)  Finally, reading a quick overview of a subject in Wikipedia can help students when they are not sure what direction to go with a paper, so they spend less time thinking and more time writing.
Obviously, the bulk of the research will need to be done in other places, but Wikipedia can be a good first step to writing a better paper.

Completeschools.com, announces their newest feature College Questions and Answers, which can match prospective students - and their parents - with answers to all their questions from people attending the schools they are interested in. Powered by Yahoo Answers, this new feature provides some of the most important information that students need when deciding on a college or university.

As any high school senior will tell you, everybody from your grandmother to the guy behind the counter at McDonald's seems to have an opinion about what college will be perfect for you. Skip all of the unhelpful (and unwanted) advice and go straight to the source: the people who attend the college(s) you are considering. Beside the comprehensive data on over 6,500 colleges and universities, Completeschools.com has added a new section with college questions and answers regarding many of these schools from the students who go to them.

While where to apply is the first question, there are many more questions that need answering. With all of the news lately about college loan scams, finding the right loan can be as scary as any decision parents and students need to make. Completeschools.com includes a large section on student loans with over 300 related answers from other students and parents. There are also comprehensive sections with answers and advice on admission exams, scholarships, and admission essays.

With new online degree programs seeming to pop up every day and many people interested in continuing their education via distance learning, high school seniors are not the only people with serious questions about college. This new preponderance of distance learning programs makes it very difficult for people to know which one is right for them. How does Western Governors University compare to the University of Phoenix? Does the local college offer a night program in the field I am looking for?

Once again, the completeschools.com College Questions and Answers section provides an invaluable service for these prospective students. While researching the costs of attending the University of Phoenix compared to Western Governors University, you are one click away from answers from attending students about how these schools - and their different degree programs - compare.

Distance learning seems like the Holy Grail to workers who are held back at their jobs because they lack a degree. But some online degrees aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

Many institutions are getting labeled as "degree factories" that don't provide their students with any of the skills that employers are looking for, and some employers are starting to look skeptically at online degrees. So how does a prospective online student find the right school for them? A great place to start is www.completeschools.com, one of the most comprehensive guides to distance learning programs at colleges and universities in the country.

As recently as twenty years ago, earning a college degree while working full-time was a near impossibility. Slowly, a handful of colleges and universities started offering degree programs at night and on weekends, but choices were very limited and you still had to attend classes - usually at their campus. Now, thanks to the Internet, distance learning has become the saving grace for people who need to get a college degree after joining the workplace.

Do your research before applying to any institution offering online degrees. First, find out if there are any schools in your area that offer degree programs at night or on the weekend. These should be evaluated at the same time you research distance learning programs. The most important thing you need to know about any online program is whether the school is accredited. A non-accredited school shouldn't be considered - employers won't consider such a degree meaningful.

Next, find out what degrees they offer and how comprehensive the coursework is. (While prospective students may like the idea of easy coursework, a program that is too easy won't provide the skills required for career success.) Finally, find out what prior students think of the school and the degrees they received. If they were able to go places with the degree, you can feel confident that you will too.