RIPON, Wis. – Ripon College today announced its support for a national initiative to provide comprehensive, transparent and cleanly presented public information to help prospective students judge the quality of higher-education institutions. Dubbed U-CAN (University & College Accountability Network), it is the first nationally coordinated effort by the institutions themselves – private and public alike – to collect and report data and qualitative information directly to consumers.

A series of federal inquiries into higher-ed lending practices last year led to increased public demand for increased transparency and accountability. This, followed by a widely publicized backlash against U.S. News and World Report’s heavily weighted reputational survey, underscored the need for a public-information format that was clear and unbiased enough to satisfy the needs of consumers.

U-CAN does not include reputation surveys or rankings; instead, students and their families have free online access to objective, measurable and verifiable data supplemented by hyperlinks to an institution’s Web site. The information provided in the U-CAN institutional profiles comes straight from the U.S. Department of Education’s IPEDS survey and the Common Data Set, both widely acknowledged as industry-standard data sources.

“Choosing a college can be a difficult and stressful time all by itself, but the sheer volume of college information – especially when compiled by third parties with varying methodologies – makes it hard to parse out the truly important facts,” said David C. Joyce, president of Ripon College. “We believe the U-CAN initiative will help simplify the process.”

U-CAN was spearheaded by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), and thus far more than 500 member institutions have made a commitment to join the initiative.

About Ripon College
Ripon College, founded in 1851, prepares students of diverse interests for lives of productive, socially responsible citizenship. Ripon’s liberal arts curriculum and residential campus create an intimate learning community in which students experience a richly personalized education. Ripon has consistently been recognized as a “best value” and “Best 366 College” by The Princeton Review, a “Best Buy in College Education” by Barron’s, a “Best Liberal-Arts College” by Washington Monthly, and is listed among the 160 best schools in the nation by Colleges of Distinction. For more information about Ripon College, visit www.ripon.edu.

 (Click to see Ripon College's full U-CAN profile)