IQx.com – Colleges Information Online

Tag: colleges

  • Dr. Jill Biden – Serving as Commencement Speaker

    Dr. Jill Biden will serve as commencement speaker at Kingsborough Community College this year. Dr. Biden, an educator of 28 years, has taught English in community colleges for the past 15 years and continues to teach English courses at a DC-area community college. Kingsborough Community College of the City University of New York is Brooklyn’s only community college and serves approximately 30,000 students per year.

    Dr. Biden will address graduates, family members, and faculty at Kingsborough on Friday June 12, 2009.

    More details will be announced at a later date.

  • Simplifying Financial Aid Applications – President

    Here at the Middle Class Task Force, we have been working on ways to make college more affordable for families in America. The President, the Vice President and the Middle Class Task Force are committed to making sure that every student has the opportunity to earn a college degree.
    In April, the Vice President hosted a Middle Class Task Force Meeting on college affordability in St. Louis, Missouri to discuss ways to expand opportunities and help make the dream of a college education a reality for more families. In Missouri, we released a staff report on ways that the administration can work to increase college affordability.
    For high school seniors or aspiring college students facing the daunting task of applying for financial aid, the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form can be a needlessly difficult obstacle on the path to higher education. Previous versions of the FAFSA have included as many as 153 questions, most of which had no relevance to financial aid packages.
    On Wednesday, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan – a Task Force Member – followed up on our Missouri findings and announced a shorter, simpler, and more user friendly FAFSA form that will make it easier to apply for financial aid.  Starting this summer, students will be able to access the new web based FAFSA that dramatically simplifies and shortens the application form, and by next January, the FAFSA application will be streamlined with the IRS for a one stop, easy and pain free application.
    The new version will make it easier and less intimidating to apply for aid, and will increase access for hundreds of thousands of students who are eligible, but do not apply for aid.
    Simplifying the financial aid application is a policy that members of the Middle Class Task Force believe will help families benefit from important resources to cover the cost of college. We are continuing to work with Congress, the Treasury Department, the Department of Education, and the Administration to strengthen and affirm the opportunity for every student to pursue higher education.
    As always, please continue sharing your ideas by visiting the Middle Class Taskfore Website.

  • UC Comparison – San Diego, Irvine, Davis

    Comparison Criteria
    School One

    University of California: Davis

    change | >remove
    School Two

    University of California: San Diego

    change | remove
    School Three

    University of California: Irvine

    change | remove
    Location
    City, State Davis, California La Jolla, California Irvine, California
    Region West West West
    Type
    Public vs. Private Public Public Public
    Religious Affiliation
    Campus Life
    Setting Suburban Suburban Suburban
    Undergraduate Enrollment 24,209 22,518 22,122
    Admission
    Percentage accepted 53 42 49
    GPA of 1st year students      
    Application Requirements
    • Essay(s) required
    • Required: SAT Reasoning Test or ACT
    • If submitting ACT, the writing section is required
    • Required: SAT Subject Tests
    • Essay(s) required
    • Required: SAT Reasoning Test or ACT
    • If submitting ACT, the writing section is required
    • Required: SAT Subject Tests
    • Essay(s) required
    • Required: SAT Reasoning Test and SAT Subject Tests; or ACT
    • If submitting ACT, the writing section is required
    SAT® Scores * Critical Reading:
    500 – 630

    Math:
    550 – 670

    Writing:
    510 – 640

    		 Critical Reading:
    540 – 660

    Math:
    600 – 710

    Writing:
    560 – 670

    		 Critical Reading:
    520 – 630

    Math:
    570 – 670

    Writing:
    520 – 630
    ACT™ Composite Scores 22 – 28 24 – 30
    Cost & Financial
    Aid *    		 Fall 2009 Fall 2009 Fall 2008
    In-state tuition & fees $9,364 $8,798 $8,046
    Out-of-state tuition & fees $32,033 $31,467 $28,654
    Room & board $12,361 $11,057 $10,527

  • Ontario Colleges

    Ontario Colleges: Where Great Careers Begin!

    Thinking about a college education? This is a great place to start.

    How many colleges are there?

    There are 24 colleges of applied arts and technology, including 2 French language colleges, in Ontario. These colleges receive public funding from the Ontario government. Many colleges have more than one campus location. That means students can take full-time and part-time courses at more than 100 locations across the province.

    How can a college education help me?

    College programs will give you the skills you need to get started in a good career. College graduates may go into business, tourism and travel, journalism, computer programming, construction trades, health care, and many other fields.

    What kinds of programs do colleges offer?

    • Certificate programs, which take 1 year or less
    • Diploma programs, which take 2 or 3 years
    • Apprenticeship and certification programs for skilled trades such as a carpenter, chef, or welder
    • Programs that lead to abachelor degree.
    • Programs offered with universities that can give you a degree and a diploma.
    • Co-operative Education programs, which provide work experience related to a field of study. “Earn as you Learn” as co-op work terms are paid. Visit Education at Work Ontario for more information.

    How can I choose the right program?

    Here are 3 good places to start:

    1. 1. Ask for a college calendar
      Every college has a course calendar. It tells you what programs the school offers. You may get a calendar from:

      • The admissions office of any Ontario college
      • Your local public library or high school
      • Most college websites.
    2. 2. Search for programs on the web
      The Program Locator lets you to pick the subjects you are interested in. Then, it shows you all of the colleges in Ontario that offer that kind of program.
    3. 3. Get help at your school
      If you are a high school student, remember that your guidance office can help you choose and apply for college programs.

    Taken from edu.gov.

  • Being Independent

    Many of us spend our lives as a child dreaming about the day we’ll be “grown-up” or independent. No rules, no parents, but making the decisions, and having all the freedom in the world! Eighteen is seen as the golden year of independence. When it comes to financial aid, however, the word “independent” is used a little differently.

    Your Expected Family Contribution (the amount you’ll have to put toward your education) is directly affected by whether or not you’re the only one paying for it. Independent students don’t have to factor in a family contribution when requesting student aid — only a personal one — so their awards are generally greater in dollar value. Sounds great, right? Who wouldn’t want to be independent?

    The federal government sets very strict guidelines defining independence for the purposes of allocating aid. Why? The basic assumption of the Federal Methodology, used to calculate need, is that it’s the responsibility of a student — and their family — to contribute toward college costs as much as possible. If every student could claim themselves an independent, then every family would be off the hook.

  • Black Colleges

    There are 117 colleges and universities in the United States that are designated as historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs); that is, they were founded with the mission of educating black men and women. They range from highly competitive universities offering undergraduate and graduate programs to noncompetitive two-year colleges with open admissions. Affordable and academically rigorous, they keep alive the history and traditions of the African-American experience while at the same time welcoming an increasing number of students of other races and backgrounds into their community.

    Today’s African-American students can attend college anywhere their grades, talents and interests take them. Yet increasingly they’re looking at HBCUs because they want the unique experience that only such institutions offer. In fact, “The last few years have seen a resurgence in HBCU enrollment”, comments Lori Wright, coordinator of multicultural student recruitment at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. Students tell her they are considering HBCUs not so much because of racial issues, but because they want to share their cultural heritage with students like themselves.

  • Ivy League Over Rated

    At this very moment, all over the country and potentially the world, high school students and their parents are planning and scheming to get into an Ivy League. Young people are groomed practically from birth to be attractive to mysterious and all-powerful admissions committees guarding the gates of the eight universities that comprise the “Ivy Leagues”.

    This is now so common, there is even a psychological malady known as “The Yale Syndrome”, a sort of obsession with college admission that creates an unusually proximate time horizon for a young person, the moment of college admission. Students who suffer from this affliction do not develop a plan for success in college, or in any aspect of their lives, beyond the arrival of that “fat envelope” detailing their acceptance. Oddly, they share many of the same concepts of time as terminally ill cancer patients.

    Parents view admission to one of these schools as a high grade on their parenting skills, and correspondingly view rejection as a low or failing grade. There is a great gnashing of teeth about the whole endeavor. But seldom does anyone really ask the question: “Are Ivy League schools over-rated?”

    How did this national obsession come about? First, let’s define what the Ivy League is. In one sense, the Ivy League is a collection of geographically proximate schools that formed a football conference in 1956. If you look at it another way, the Ivy League is a collective brand representing the pinnacle of American higher education. This is the Ivy League: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale. No other school is a member, in spite of what some alumni may claim.

    The Ivy League has not been a focus of fevered longing for very long. For most of this nation’s history, college was a local endeavor. The best and the brightest did not go far to go to college. Then, a convergence of societal trends in the late part of the last century quietly nationalized education, without anyone really noticing. The advent of cheap air travel–and the breakdown of regional differences due to television and the migration of educated workers throughout the country–combined to make bright young people look nationally for college choices. So this collection of venerable schools became a focus of their attentions. The problem is that young people and their families didn’t catch on to the level of competition that this change entailed.

    As college became a middle-class right instead of an upper-class privilege, a lot more students wanted in to what they perceived to be the most elite schools. One Ivy League school now rejects over 90 percent of the students who apply, and rejects over half of the students who apply with perfect SAT scores. Think about that.

    That’s where we are today. Everyone in the country wants into the same handful of schools. But what do you get with an Ivy League education, especially as an undergraduate? Is it really the best in the country? These are undeniably good schools, but there are also one hundred other schools that do as good or better a job at educating undergraduates.

  • Financial Aid – Premier Schools

    Stanford’s announcement came two months after Harvard publicized its expensive new financial aid policies and over a month after Yale and Dartmouth followed suit with their own. Since Harvard’s announcement in December (at which time it saw its application rate spike by 19 percent), other top ranked schools including Williams, Princeton, Swarthmore, Cornell, Northwestern, University of Pennsylvania, Bowdoin, Pomona, Cal Tech, Duke and Davidson have announced new financial aid policies in what some people consider an effort to “keep up with the Harvard’s.”

    Similar to Harvard and many other elite universities, on February 20, Stanford University announced a new financial aid policy dramatically increasing the eligible amount of aid for middle-income families. The announcement comes as the latest in a series of policy revisions over the past three years designed to ease the burden of paying a tuition averaging $47,000 a year and to ensure that no high school student considering applying to Stanford decides not to because of cost.

    In addition, the plan also calls for eliminating student loans. All students qualifying for need-based financial aid no longer need to take out the expected $4,000 loan before receiving money from the scholarship fund. Beginning in the 2008-09 school year, students are only expected to earn $2,500 from working during the school year and earn approximately $2,000 over the summer.

    Each fall, the financial aid program is reevaluated by the Financial Aid Office, the Dean of Admission and Financial Aid, the Budget Office, the Provost, and the President, with consultation from the Board of Trustees. Cooper added, “There are no specific plans in the works for more changes at this time. We will be evaluating the success of our current changes next fall.”

    The changes were made possible through an increase in the endowment payout and doubling the financial goal of the Stanford Challenge, an effort to increase fundraising for the university, to $200 million. The Board of Trustees approved the increase in endowment payout from 5% to 5.5%, or by $160 million, on June 14, 2007, at the time intending to fund capital improvement projects.

    The announcement follows the House of Representative’s passing of the College Opportunity and Affordability Act, which aims to expose the allegedly corrupt relationship between expensive colleges and loan agencies and give greater transparency to the consumer. The Senate has put forth its own version of the bill. If passed, the law would require colleges to report financial information that Stanford University officials claim to be unproductive and difficult, namely revealing the rate of their endowment spending.

    Many people believe Stanford’s increase in endowment spending on financial aid from five to 5.5 percent this year is aimed to counteract the repealed provision of the College Opportunity and Affordability Act that would have required colleges to spend at least five percent of their endowment on financial aid. But the Board of Trustees approved the increase in endowment payout in June, nearly five months before the act’s proposal. As far back as 2003, Republicans had been discussing a bill that would penalize colleges that raised tuition significantly faster than inflation.

    These policy revisions have also coincided with and followed those of other top ranked schools. In 2006, Stanford eliminated educational costs for families earning less than $45,000. Harvard had enacted a similar policy in 2004 and Yale in 2005.

  • Racial Admissions

    You have a lot of bad luck if you were born into an Asian family. If one of your parents is white, then you should claim that you are white instead of Asian when you apply to a college. Better yet, if you can find a way to claim that you are x% of American Indian, you have many more ways to get financial aid. Some say Asian-Americans are being denied spots at top colleges to keep their numbers in check (Asians make up 5 percent of the population). The following are percentages of Asian undergraduates at selected colleges, according to the New York Times, Jan 7, 2007:

    Stanford: 24%

    Harvard: 18%

    Princeton: 13%

    M.I.T.: 27%

    Asian-Americans are the odd group out, lacking the racial preferences enjoyed by other minorities and the advantages of wealth and lineage accrued by upper-class whites. Asians are type-cast in college admissions offices as quasi-robots programmed by their parents to ace math and science.

    The UC system (the University of California) announced a new admission policy (effectively reducing the number of Asian student population). Currently 36 percent of those admitted to the university system in 2007-8 were Asian Americans. In contrast, white applicants made up 34 percent of those admitted in 2007-8. Applying the new admissions standards, that percentage for Asian would drop to 29-32 percent. Under the proposed reforms, white applicants would have made up 41 to 44 percent of the entering class. So is this the case of “good” students are being denied admissions in favor of “mediocre” ones? Is it fair for the Asian American students who worked so hard but have disadvantages at attending their dream college(s)?

    Well, quite simply, the world is not fair. Many who pay their mortgage on time year after year, will need to share the burden of other foreclosure expenses by other people. If you are rich, then you need to pay more tax. If you are smart in one social group, then you have disadvantages to your college applications. If Obama was not black, did he have a chance? Is the Obama Presidency the end of Affirmative Action?

    This is not a new problem as there were many law suits filed before. Yale’s freshman Jian Li has filed a federal civil rights complaint against Princeton for rejecting his application for admission, claiming the University discriminated against him because he is Asian. The complaint, which was filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on Oct. 25, 2006, alleges that the University’s admissions procedures are biased because they advantage other minority groups, namely African-Americans and Hispanics, legacy applicants and athletes at the expense of Asian-American applicants. However the most recent UC’s admission policies would legalize such practice and deny Asians’ chances.

  • Higher Education Areas

    In higher education, which is a level of education that is provided by universities, vocational universities, community colleges, liberal arts colleges, institutes of technology and other collegiate level institutions that award academic degrees or professional certifications, there are several main areas.

    Liberal Arts:

    • Great Books Program

    • History

    • Languages

    • Law

    • Literature

    • Philosophy

    • Religious studies

    Performing Arts:

    • Circus schools

    • College or university school of music

    • Dance school

    • Drama school

    • Music education

    Plastic or Visual Arts:

    • Film school

    • List of art schools

    • List of art schools in Europe

    • List of international architecture schools

    Professional:

    • Business school

    • Dental school

    • Journalism school

    • Law school

    • Library school

    • Medical school

    • Public policy school

    • Veterinary school

  • School Funding

    A lot of universities are struggling with endowments that are now underwater. If the current financial downturn continues, the problem will only get worse. Most states adopted a uniform law that prohibits withdrawing money from endowments that fall below their “historic dollar value” — the money given to create the endowment, plus any later gifts. The law is designed to protect endowments by preventing institutions from dipping into the principal. An endowment is supposed to be a perpetual source of revenue, with institutions drawing off only the earnings. The rule affects newer funds most severely, since they have had less time to invest a gift and build the endowment’s value.

    Some donors may have intended for the principal to remain intact, but was it their intent that the students they want to help won’t get any help? Certainly there is a need to loosen the strings attached to the gifts.

    In the University of North Carolina system, where as many as 70 percent of the endowments at one campus are underwater, some of the system’s 16 schools are going back to donors and asking them for one-time donations to pay for what would normally be covered by the endowment.

    The University of Wisconsin system suspended payments this month from 38 underwater endowments, taking away $700,000 that would have gone for scholarships and other programs at campuses across the state. At New York University, about $10 million of $16 million in scholarship endowments is untouchable.

    Because of funding problem, Brandeis University originally planned to close its Rose Art Museum and sell its more than 7,000 works, including pieces by Willem de Kooning and Jasper Johns. After much criticism, the school backed off.

    There are ways to get around the law. In creating an endowment, nonprofits can enter into an agreement with the donor that allows for the use of principal in emergencies. They can also ask the donor to change the endowment’s terms retroactively, which requires a trip to court if the donor has died.

    Since early 2007, 26 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws that give nonprofit organizations more flexibility in using money from endowments that are underwater. Because of the economic meltdown, 12 other states are considering such laws, according to the National Conference of Commissioners of Uniform State Laws.

  • Applying Early

    Finally a student has cut down the list of schools and is considering applying early to get the ball rolling on his/her college plans. Typically, there are three ways that a student can apply early and some universities may offer more than one of the following options:

    • Early Action (EA), which allows a student to apply to more than one school early and gives him/her an early answer about his/her acceptance. EA applications shouldn’t be used liberally by applying this way to every school on a student’s list. Having the ability to submit multiple EAs doesn’t mean the student should feel free to overuse it.
    • Early Decision (ED), which also gives a student an early answer, but restricts him/her to applying ED to only one school and requires that the student will guarantee up front that (s)he’ll enroll if he/she is accepted. If the student is, that student must withdraw his/her applications to any other colleges. He/she is committed to the school and can’t apply anywhere else, even during the regular admission season.
    • Single Choice Early Action (SCEA) or Restrictive Early Action (REA) is the newest option, which limits a student to applying early to only one school to get an answer in advance about acceptance. It’s not binding, but restricts the student from applying anywhere else under an EA or ED application. The student can apply elsewhere during regular admission and does not have to make a decision to enroll until the school’s regular deadline.

  • SAT (1)

    SAT Exam

    Because almost every college and university in the United States accepts the SAT exam as part of the admissions and placement process, more than two million students take the test every year. The SAT exam is divided into the SAT Reasoning Test and the SAT Subject Tests.

    The SAT Reasoning Test assesses a student’s critical thinking, analyzing, and problem-solving skills, all of which are necessary to succeed in higher education. This test is divided into three categories: Writing, Critical Reading, and Mathematics. The Critical Reading section is further broken down into three sections, two of which are 25 minutes and one of which is 20 minutes. The Mathematics section is broken down in a similar fashion as the Critical Reading Section, with two 25 minutes sections and on 20 minute section. Time allotted for the Writing section is 60 minutes: 35 minutes for multiple choice questions and 25 minutes for students to write an essay. All of the sections are scored from 200 to 800 points. The SAT exam is administered seven times a year in the United States, U.S. Territories, and Puerto Rico. It is also administered six times a year in other countries.

    The SAT Subject Tests assess a student’s knowledge, as well as his or her ability to apply that knowledge, in specific subject areas. There are currently twenty subject tests, all of which fall under the general subjects of English, history, math, science, and languages. The tests assess how well a student has mastered a subject, but the content of the exams is not based on any specific curriculum or textbook. Colleges and universities use these exams in the admissions process, as well as to advise students and for placement purposes. Some schools require specific exams while others will allow the student to choose the subject tests he or she wishes to take. All of the SAT Subject Tests are 60 minutes and are comprised of multiple choice questions. It is recommended that students take the exams at the end of their junior year or the beginning of their senior year, or as soon as the student has completed the high school class related to the subject test (for example, Physics or World History).

    Students may register for the SAT exam online or via mail. Tests are administered on Saturdays; if a student cannot take the exam on a Saturday because of religious observance, he or she can take the exam on a Sunday. Students who are registering to take the exam on a Sunday for the first time, are younger than thirteen, are requesting to test closer to home (because the nearest testing site is at least 75 miles away), or plan to test in Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, or Togo, must register with a paper application via mail. There is a fee of $41.50 to take the SAT Reasoning Test, which includes up to four score reports sent to colleges and universities. For the Subject Tests, there is a basic fee of $18.00, a fee of $8.00 for each additional exam, and an additional $19.00 for Language Tests with Listening.

  • What Colleges Look for in an Applicant

    What Colleges Look for in an Applicant

    When deciding which applicants to admit to their college, admissions officers consider many different factors.

    – A Challenging Schedule
    One of the main factors that college admissions officers look for is a rigorous class schedule. Universities want students who are willing to challenge themselves. Depending on the college, a challenging schedule is even better than having the best grades. If an admissions officer is deciding between two applicants, where one student has a 4.0 with standard courses and the other applicant has a 3.5 average but takes advanced courses, the admissions officer will usually pick the 3.5 average student.

    – Grades
    Although a challenging schedule may hold a little more precedence, grades are still vital to colleges. Many colleges have a minimum GPA (Grade Point Average) requirement in order to apply. Therefore, it is essential that a student keeps his/her grades up throughout his/her entire high school career. Also, students should not slack off in their senior year of high school. It has happened time and time again that a university revokes the student’s admission due to “senioritis”.

    – Standardized Test Scores (SAT, SAT 2)
    Colleges definitely take admissions test scores into consideration. Starting in the 21st century, in order to get a scholarship off test scores, the student’s test scores must be in the 99th percentile minimum. If test scores are near the median range, then class schedules and grades will be the main deciding factors for admission. If test scores are low, an admissions counselor may discard the student immediately unless their grades and schedule are simply outstanding.

    – Extracurricular Activities
    Being involved in extracurricular activities shows admissions officers that the student is a well-rounded student and that the student is good with time management skills. Colleges want students who are going to be involved with activities on their campus. Keep in mind, however, that a student should not join a bunch of activities just to fill up his/her high school resume. Admissions officers are looking for quality over quantity. A few activities that really interest the student looks a lot better on a high school resume.

    Application Essay
    The college application essay allows a student to show his/her uniqueness to admissions officers. Counselors look for application essays that are honest and provide supplemental information. Counselors do not want to see a student restating what is in their transcript.

    Letters of Recommendation
    Admissions officers rely on letters of recommendation to let them know how others view the student. Generally, a student wants to ask someone who knows them well and would give a positive report.

  • Popular Universities

    Which university is the most popular one?
    Of course, Harvard University tops the list. You may believe Stanford to be the second, but you are wrong. You will be surprised that Brigham Young University-Provo ranked second.

    Recently U.S. News and World Report ranked colleges by the percentage of students accepted who actually wind up attending. In college terms, it is known as the “yield.” 79 percent of the students selected by Harvard enroll at the Massachusetts school. That is why Harvard ranked the first. Brigham Young University-Provo has 77% yield, ranked the second for the yield even though the school only ranked 113th by traditional method. University of Nebraska-Lincoln is third, with a yield of 71 percent even though it is ranked 89th by traditional method. Stanford University only comes in fourth, with a yield of 70 percent, of course Stanford ranked 4th by traditional method. Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University tied for fifth, each with a yield of 69 percent.

    U.S. News_Rank Acceptance_Rate Yield
    Harvard University (MA) 1 9% 79%
    Brigham Young University–Provo (UT) 113 74% 77%
    University of Nebraska–Lincoln 89 62% 71%
    Stanford University (CA) 4 10% 70%
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology 4 12% 69%
    Yale University (CT) 3 10% 69%
    Princeton University (NJ) 2 10% 68%
    University of Pennsylvania 6 16% 66%
    Yeshiva University (NY) 50 69% 65%
    University of Florida 49 42% 63%
    Columbia University (NY) 8 11% 59%
    Brown University (RI) 16 14% 56%
    Texas A&M University–College Station 64 76% 56%
    University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill 30 35% 56%
    University of Notre Dame (IN) 18 24% 56%
    Louisiana State University–Baton Rouge 130 73% 55%
    University of Texas–Austin 47 51% 54%
    Dartmouth College (NH) 11 15% 52%
    University of Virginia 23 35% 52%
    University of Georgia 58 54% 51%
    Kansas State University 130 95% 50%
    University of Alabama 83 64% 50%
    University of Oklahoma 108 89% 50%
    North Carolina State University–Raleigh 83 60% 49%
    Ohio State University–Columbus 56 59% 49%
    University of Missouri–Columbia 96 86% 48%
    University of Tennessee 108 71% 48%
    Cornell University (NY) 14 21% 47%
    Georgetown University (DC) 23 21% 47%
    University of Kentucky 116 77% 47%

    So why Brigham Young University has high yield? BYU accepted 74% of the 10,010 people who applied for admission in the summer term and fall semester of 2007. The majority of students at Brigham Young University have traveled the world to preach the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the founders of Brigham Young University. It is the oldest existing institution within the LDS Church Educational System, is America’s largest religious university, and has the second-largest private university enrollment in the United States. Approximately 98% of the 34,000 students at BYU are LDS; two-thirds of its American students come from outside the state of Utah. The university’s primary focus is on undergraduate education. About 70% of student tuition is funded by LDS Church tithing funds, making tuition relatively less expensive than at similar private universities. It is the money! This explains the yield score.

    For BYU, the average ACT score and GPA for these admitted students was 27.9 and 3.78, respectively. Students from every state in the U.S. and from many foreign countries attend BYU. In the 2005-6 academic year, there were 2,396 foreign students, or 8% of enrollment. Slightly more than 98% of these students are active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 2006, 12.6% of the student body represented ethnic minorities, mostly Asian/Pacific islanders and Hispanics.

    BYU received other reviews. Princeton Review has ranked BYU the best value for college in 2007, and its library is consistently ranked in the nation’s top ten–#1 in 2004 and #4 in 2007. BYU is also ranked #19 in the U.S. News and World Report’s “Great Schools, Great Prices” lineup, and #12 in lowest student-incurred debt. Due in part to the school’s emphasis on undergraduate research, BYU is ranked #8 nationally for the number of students who go on to earn PhDs, #1 nationally for students who go on to dental school, #6 nationally for students who go on to law school, and #10 nationally for students who go on to medical school. BYU is designated as a Carnegie research university with high research activity, one of the highest classifications by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.