Google’s New Tool for Building a College List

Whether by osmosis or direct from a guidance counselor, high school students learn early that junior year is important, an academic rite of passage that tests grit and makes senior year feel that much sweeter. It’s big, because - at least by reputation - classes are tougher, grades seem to matter more, and the college search begins in earnest.

Beyond this generalized sense that college searching ought to commence, however, many rising juniors aren’t quite sure how to begin. So, naturally, they Google it.

A 2015 survey found that college websites and online search engines are the two most popular sources prospective students use to learn about colleges. But, as we all know, cold searching can be as frustrating as it is fruitful. 43 percent of survey respondents said they had trouble figuring out how much college actually costs, and 42 percent felt lost when searching for financial aid options.

Citing this survey and similar data as its impetus, Google has developed a new feature to help students navigate the college search process. As of June 12th, when users search for a 4-year college, easy-to-access stats appear alongside search results. In addition to commonly searched data like average test scores, admissions rate, and graduation rate, each college search also yields more nuanced information including average cost after financial aid broken down by household income and typical annual income ten years after graduation. Furthermore, with students at the outset of their college search in mind, Google generates 15 similar schools for every college searched.

Google partnered with nonprofits, high school counselors, and admissions officers to identify important factors in building a smart college list and designed the user experience accordingly. The feature draws information from the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), though it also enables college representatives to report incorrect info and - when verified by Google - update accordingly.

As a regular contributor to this publication, I can attest that, until now, many of these college stats have been hard to come by save a lot of digging. Even SAT and ACT scores for the middle 50 percent of accepted students can be rather elusive. I tried out Google’s new search feature with my alma mater - The University of Georgia - and here’s what showed up adjacent to my search results:

In addition to the data mentioned earlier, my search highlighted contact info, rankings, links to social media profiles, notable alumni, and recent news articles about UGA.

Exploring each college’s own website will of course provide more in-depth information, as well as specifics about majors, extracurriculars, or class-sizes by department, and undoubtedly a campus visit will act as your most valuable search tool. But Google’s new feature facilitates an informed foray into the college search process that, I imagine, will prove integral to list-building from here on out.