Rank your college by price!

The U.S. Department of Education recently released a new website that ranks colleges in the U.S. based on highest tuition, highest total cost of attendance, and the highest/lowest percent increase in tuition in recent years. This story in the New York Times describes the pros and cons of the new service, which is available for anyone with internet; no log-in information is required for access.

The site, whose creation is a result of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, allows students and parents to compare prices of educational institutions across the line before choosing where to study for the next two to four years. The highest-priced four-year private institutions thus far have been ranked as Bates College in Maine and Wells College in New York. This information, now made public in such a clear manner, should facilitate the decision-making process for rising high school seniors as they debate in which college to invest their next four years of study. Now we can go into this whole taking-out-loans thing with eyes open wide, as the big picture is in full view.