The Power of the List

By Matt Reed. Now Yahoo is ranking community colleges?
Ugh. Another list.
I’m not sure who the intended audience is. Most community college students don’t choose from among colleges across the country; most choose locally. In many areas, that only means one place to go; in most, no more than two or three. Online degrees have loosened the ties to geography to some degree, but most community colleges still charge a premium for out-of-state (or, in some states, out-of-county) students. Geography isn’t dead. Knowing that a college in Washington got a great ranking doesn’t help a prospective student in Massachusetts very much. Read more...