Every year, college rankings generate headlines and create anxiety among families who want their child to attend the “best” college. A school climbs five spots and celebrates; another school drops a few notches and parents start to wonder if something's wrong. But before giving rankings too much weight, it's worth asking what they're actually measuring. Consider this: If Naperville, Illinois, is ranked as the #1 place to live in America, would you move there? Probably not. Ma

Business is one of the most popular majors, and a new Validated Insights report (Higher Ed Insights, August 2025), drawing on National Student Clearinghouse data, confirms it's the top bachelor's field in the country. In Spring 2025, about 1.63 million students at four-year colleges majored in business-related fields (across all class years), up 4.8% from the year before. The Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) alone accounts for 646,747 of them. Finance and Accounting

If your family is filling out the FAFSA for the first time, one detail catches almost everyone off guard: it asks for tax information from two years earlier, the "prior-prior year." For students starting college in the 2027–28 school year, that means 2025 taxes. This lag makes the process faster and more predictable for colleges to handle, but it also means the form can describe a financial picture that no longer matches your family's reality. A bonus, an inheritance, or a jo

Every October, sophomores and juniors across the country sit down for the PSAT, and every October, families have the same questions: Does this count? Do we need to prep? What happens with the score? Here's what's useful to know, broken down by grade. For freshmen: The PSAT isn't typically offered until sophomore year, but this is a good year to build foundational reading and math skills through regular coursework rather than test-specific prep. Strong classroom habits now pay

Students often worry about calling attention to anything negative on a college application, but just because you ignore something doesn't mean admissions officers won't notice it. Admissions officers aren't looking for a diagnosis or a confession; they're looking for context that helps them understand the story your transcript is telling. Take a rough patch in a single class. If you bombed a midterm but sought out extra help and pulled your grade from a D to a C by year's end

For most families, the sticker price on a college's website has almost nothing to do with what you'll actually pay. That's where two tools come in: the Cost of Attendance (COA) and the Net Price Calculator (NPC). Understanding both can turn a huge, scary number into a manageable plan. Every college publishes a COA, which includes tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, transportation, and personal expenses. This is the federally mandated "sticker price," meant t

If you are fascinated by the nature of living things, enjoy conducting experiments, and like math and science, a major in biology may be right for you. As a biology major, you will study the beginnings of both plant and animal life forms and analyze their structures, functions, and traits. The study of biology has many areas of specialization, allowing students multiple career paths in a wide variety of fields after completing the major. The biology major program consists of

College admissions can feel confusing, stressful, and complicated at times, but for most students, things ultimately work out well. However, your journey to college will likely go more smoothly if you avoid these common mistakes. Lying on your college applications. When you’re worried about getting into college, it can sometimes be tempting to stretch the truth on your applications. Maybe add a few extracurriculars that you haven’t really actively participated in, or exaggera

Starting college is a major life transition. While it's liberating not to have anyone telling you when to go to bed or when to study, you're now responsible for yourself. As you handle problems with professors or roommates on your own, you'll gain real confidence in your ability to manage your life. You will meet a lot of smart, accomplished students, and this can be intimidating. But remember: admissions officers turn down thousands of well-qualified students. If you've been