College Navigator by US Dept of Education

U.S. Department of Education College Opportunity Online Locator (COOL)
The name says it all. COOL is perhaps the best search database for career colleges, professional trade schools, and all higher education universities based on program, major, geographic location or school name. For example, use the By Program or MAJOR search feature (scroll down the left side of the page to see that option) and enter a key word for the program/major. You can check all four of the levels of award. You can then add other majors to find schools that offer the ideal combination you are looking for. Then click on the Results button. Includes the ability to place up
to four schools in a comparison chart.

University of Illinois Library’s Links to Higher Ed Rankings

At this site, you will find links to many ranking services, along with cautionary notes and a discussion of the ongoing controversy over rankings. The listing of items on this site’s pages in no way constitutes an endorsement of a ranking service by the Education and Social Science Library or by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The purpose of our site is only to draw together and provide context to various ranking services. 

U.S. News and World Report College and University Rankings

We’ve always thought a great deal about U.S. News and World Report College and Universities analysis. They make a good attempt at ranking colleges and universities. Be sure to include “By Major” as a selection (see left column, midway down the “Selects” options). Once you’ve found a school of interest, click the checkbox to the right of the school to save that selection for comparison purposes. Useful to view 3 or 4 schools as a comparison. Some majors might not be ranked.

Link direct to the Top Schools Search Tool

College Board.com Majors and Career Profiles

College Board.com Majors and Career Profiles
The College Board is a not-for-profit membership association whose mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity. The association is composed of more than 5,000 schools, colleges, universities, and other educational organizations. 

Career Finder by College Major Research Tool

Ok, so you don’t want to take our advice and look at “caeers that fit” first and then select a major that best supports getting a fast start into that career. Sometimes going backwards is more fun and can reveal new information. Monster.com has created a Major-to-Career Converter just for you. It isn’t extremely comprehensive but it looks pretty good from what we checked. 

Princeton Review Colleges and Majors

Princeton Review has profiled over 200 majors. Click here for Search by Major or to view majors by category.

It’s not about getting into the best college...It’s about getting into the best college for you.  Every college is known for certain majors. Look for colleges and universities that rank at the top for the major you are most interested in. And for an ideal combination, look at double majoring and choose the college or university that ranks both majors in the top 10. 

College Prowler

College Prowler has ranked each school across 20 campus life topics – everything from the quality of the academics to the attractiveness of the opposite sex. The 20 categories include Academics, Athletics, Campus Dining, Campus Housing, Campus Strictness, Computers, Diversity, Drug Scene, Facilities, Girls, Greek Life, Guys, Local Atmosphere, Nightlife, Off-Campus Dining, Off-Campus Housing, Parking, Safety & Security, Transportation and Weather. 

Campus Compare

The Campus Compare website requires a “free” registration id. You have to give an email address. If you are ok with that, this site offers interesting features other sites don’t offer. The main categories are Colleges (simple search feature), Resources (broad features here) and a Dashboard to view your saved information. The CampusCompare team is comprised of technology veterans with a proven track record of success. They claim to be experts in technology, education, communication and imagination. What does this mean to you? Simply that the combined forces make your college search more tailored than your prom tux. 

Education Portal

Education Portal: A guide to undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees, career education and online degree programs
Education-portal.com is a resource hub for students and working professionals to research career paths, degree programs, and schools within their chosen disciplines. This was accomplished by a dedicated team of experts including educators, librarians, college counselors, career counselors, and journalists to provide practical information in both written and video formats. This site may be sponsored by smaller colleges and universities wanting to promote their programs. 

Peterson’s: Online educational search and selection

Peterson’s: A leader in online educational search and selection
Peterson’s reaches an estimated 105 million consumers annually with information about colleges and universities, career schools, graduate programs, distance learning, executive training, private secondary schools, summer opportunities, study abroad, financial aid, test preparation, and career exploration. Peterson’s data is found throughout the Web. From Yahoo
and AOL to the Wall Street Journal and Time magazine.

Peterson’s RSS Feeds Listing

Subscribe to Peterson’s RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds to get updates delivered directly to your desktop! Drag the orange RSS icon into your desktop news reader or right-click, copy link location, and paste into your web-based news reader. Multiple feeds available from the following categories:

Featured Colleges and Universities - Undergraduate Programs - listed by Subject/Major Area of Study
Featured Graduate Schools and Programs - listed by Subject/Major Area of Study
Online Colleges and Universities - listed by Subject/Major Area of Study