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EDUCATION AFTER HIGH
SCHOOL |
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Are you
considering education beyond high school? It’s a
big investment of time, money, and effort, so you should
carefully evaluate the school you’re considering.
Choosing the school you’ll attend is one of the most
important decisions you need to make. Another is how you’re
going to pay for your education. To help you and other
students, the U.S. Department of Education offers a variety
of student financial aid programs, which this website
describes.
It’s up to you to check out a school. Just because
a school participates in the federal student financial
aid programs doesn’t mean we have endorsed the quality
of the education the school offers. We don’t approve
a school’s curricula, policies, or administrative
practices, except as they relate to how the school operates
the federal student financial aid programs.
WHAT INFORMATION SHOULD I GET
FROM A SCHOOL?
Some of the basic questions you should ask when considering
a college or career school are:
• Does the school offer the courses and type of program
I want?
• Do I meet the admissions requirements?
• Does the school offer a high quality education
at a reasonable price?
• Does the school offer services I need and activities
I’m interested in?
• What are job placement rates for students who have
recently graduated?
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Note:
When we refer to
“school” on this website, we mean
a two- or four-year
public or private educational
institution, or a career or trade school.
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Most of this information is covered in a school’s
catalog or in its introductory brochures. Make sure you
get these from schools you’re interested in attending.
Also, the reference section of your local library has
many books that provide information about colleges and
career schools.
You can also find a lot of information on the Internet;
many colleges and career schools have Web sites. If you
know someone who attends or attended a school you’re
considering, ask that person his or her opinion of the
school.
You should ask about the school’s accreditation,
licensing, student loan default rate, and campus security.
- Find out the school’s loan default rate (the
percentage of students who attended the school, took
out federal student loans, and later failed to repay
their loans on time). You might not be able to get
aid from some of our programs at a school that has
a high default rate.
- Get a copy of the school’s campus security
report, which provides information on the school’s
campus security policies and campus crime statistics.
Schools must publish a campus security report every
year and distribute it to all current students and
employees of the school. In addition, if you contact
a school and ask for admissions information, the school
must inform you that its campus security report is
available, provide you with a summary of the report,
and let you know how you may get a copy. Parents and
students can use the Internet to review crime statistics
for many colleges, universities, and career schools.
These statistics can be found at the Department of
Education’s Web site at www.ope.ed.gov/security
- Talk to high school counselors, local employers,
and the state higher education agency. You can also
see if any complaints about the school have been filed
with the local Better Business Bureau or the consumer
protection division of the state attorney general’s
office. You can search for Better Business Bureau
offices at www.bbb.org
Contact these organizations if you have a complaint
about a school.
Find out the school’s job placement rates (the percentage
of students who are placed in jobs relevant to their courses
of study).
- If the school advertises its job placement rates,
it must also publish the most recent employment statistics,
graduation statistics, and any other information necessary
to back up its claims. This information must be available
at or before the time you apply for admission to the school.
Also, check with local employers to see whether they have
hired graduates from the school.
Find out about the school’s refund policy.
- If you enroll but never begin classes, you should
get most of your money back. If you begin attending
classes but leave before completing your coursework,
you might be able to get part of your money back.
Find out about financial aid availability at the school.
- You have the right to receive the following information
from the school:
- what the location, hours, and counseling procedures
are for the school’s financial aid office;
- what financial assistance is available, including
federal, state, local, private, and institutional
financial aid programs;
- what the procedures and deadlines are for submitting
applications for each available financial aid program;
- how the school selects financial aid recipients;
- how the school determines your financial need;
- how the school determines each type and amount
of assistance in your financial aid package;
- how and when you’ll receive your aid;
- how the school determines whether you’re making
satisfactory academic progress, and what happens if
you’re not (whether you continue to receive federal
financial aid depends, in part, on whether you make
satisfactory academic progress); and
- if you’re offered a Federal Work-Study job,
what the job is, what hours you must work, what your
duties will be, what the pay will be, and how and
when you’ll be paid.
Find out about the school’s return-of-aid policy.
- If you receive federal student aid from any of the
programs mentioned in this publication (except for
Federal Work- Study), and you withdraw from school,
some of that money may have to be returned by you
or your school. Also, even if you don’t finish
your coursework, you’ll have to repay the loan
funds you received, less any amount your school has
returned to your lender.
Find out the school’s completion and transfer-out
rates.
- A school is required to disclose to current and
prospective students the percentage of its students
who complete the school’s programs and the percentage
of students who transfer out of the school.
Get a copy of the school’s “equity-in-athletics”
report.
- Any coeducational school where you can receive federal
student aid and where there’s an intercollegiate
athletic program must prepare an equity-in-athletics
report giving financial and statistical information
for men’s and women’s sports. This information
makes students aware of a school’s commitment
to providing equitable athletic opportunities for
its male and female students.
You also might want to compare your expected debt for
attending the school to the money you expect to earn once
you complete the educational program. If you borrow money
to pay for all or a portion of your education, you’ll
need to earn or have access to enough money to repay your
debt. Check the Web or visit the library to learn more
about the careers you’re interested in pursuing.
The U.S. Department of Labor publishes the Dictionary
of Occupational Titles, which includes a list of career
choices and
information on typical wages or salaries for many occupations.
The Labor Department also publishes the Occupational
Outlook Handbook, which gives job descriptions, including
starting salaries and annual income averages.
You can find the Dictionary of Occupational Titles online
at: www.oalj.dol.gov/libdot.htm
You can find the Occupational Outlook Handbook online
at: www.bls.gov/oco
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You’re
paying for a high-quality education. Make sure
you get it.
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