Entering college is one of the most exciting experiences for young adults, but it is equally one of the most challenging as well. To help ease the transition, many institutions offer First-Year Experience (FYE) programs designed to acclimate and support students academically, socially, and emotionally. These programs vary widely in their structure, focus, and desired outcomes. For many students who may not be or feel entirely ready for college, their FYE experience can make the difference between succeeding or not.

Although diminished some following several high-profile scandals, the College Rankings industry has become a very significant factor in the college application process for students and parents. More profoundly, though, is how significant a factor they have become in the marketing strategies and strategic planning of colleges and universities, such that many schools are enticed to make misguided decisions that boost rankings but are not in the best interest of student learning and success. And ultimately, the effects of the more popular rankings have been to drive costs up, increase racial inequities, and reinforce an unhealthy mindset when it comes to college education.

For those and other reasons, it is extremely important for parents and students to understand the limitations and problems associated with rankings and how to identify and utilize the better ones. In this blog, we're going to look rankings in 5 parts.

1. Ragbag Rankings - Faulty criteria and methodology

2. Regressive Rankings - The negative effects of college rankings

3. Rankings Rancor - How rankings play into misguided and harmful college practices

4. Rankle of Rankings - How rankings feed into an unhealthy mindset

Re-envisioning Rankings - How to identify rankings that can be useful

Student debt can have various negative health effects on individuals, and because student loan debt cannot be discharged via bankruptcy like credit card and mortgage debt can, it has a much stronger and long-term impact on people's health. Here are some potential ways in which student debt can impact a person's wellbeing.

The concept of "learning styles" refers to the idea that different individuals have unique ways of learning and processing information. The idea is very popular and lucrative, both within and outside of academics, with nearly 100 documented models, many associated with commercial, for-profit enterprises. Virtually all of them either imply or explicitly state instruction and learning strategies should match the individual student's learning style.

However, hundreds of studies have been conducted, and there is no consistent or compelling evidence to back up the idea. Proponents and those financially invested in the concept offer many research studies, practically all of which sound convincing but feature poor research design or faulty conclusions on the part of researchers. None of the well-designed studies support the idea, though. In fact, several of these studies suggested that teaching a student using only their learning style often results in less learning than when the student uses multiple styles or strategies.

Students and parents tend to avoid the stress associated with college debt in a variety of ways, which has enabled it to become a potentially devastating problem in recent years, with 44 million borrowers having an average debt between $30,000 and $40,000 each and struggling to repay their loans. According to recent statistics, the total student loan debt in the United States is around $1.7 trillion, nearly twice the record credit card debt in the U.S. making matters worse, only about 40% of college students graduate on time. Even after 8 years, about 25% to 30% still haven't graduated; most of them never will and yet they still have the debt to deal with. But there are effective and practical ways to reduce debt and even graduate debt free in some cases!

Stress less searching for a college! There are several hacks you can use to make the process easier, more effective, and more successful!

Navigating college admissions and financial aid is overwhelming for families due to a lack of accurate and useful metrics. Common sources like marketing content and popular rankings often fail to provide a complete picture. Limited sources of data and colleges massaging information further complicate matters. But there are good metrics that can help students and their parents ignore the marketing and hype so they can make informed decisions.