Accreditation
Is the university accredited? Most legitimate universities are accredited — reviewed by an outside authority and determined to provide programs and services that meet uniform standards. You should be able to find a statement of a university’s accreditation on its Web site or in its catalog. A related concern: Where is the university accredited? Look for schools accredited in countries you plan to live in — or in countries with respected educational systems. This is your assurance that your degree will be recognized and accepted.
Reputation
Is the university respected by professionals and peer institutions? This is a crucial question. If, for example, you want to be an engineer, you’ll want to attend a university known and respected by the profession. If you want to be a journalist and pursue graduate studies in the field, you’ll want to attend a university known and respected by graduate schools. How can you answer this question? Certainly you could talk to professionals in your field of interest. You could also review the accomplishments of the university’s alumni. Do they work at major firms and organizations? Do they attend prestigious graduate schools?
History
What history can the university claim?A university founded a hundred years ago can claim that it has stood the test of time — its longevity is proof of its value. On the other hand, an older university might also have grown inflexible and conservative. A university founded a decade ago can claim to be innovative and forward-looking — its youth is proof of its value. On the other hand, a fledgling university might not be flush with resources; it might not have established a reputation, assembled a seasoned faculty or conducted important research. A university’s exact age isn’t as important as what it has done and what it can offer you. Has it built a meaningful reputation in your field of interest? Is it conducting cutting-edge research? Does it have the resources you need?
Faculty
Of all the resources at a university, the faculty is perhaps the most important. Imagine a university without professors: there would be no classes, no majors or programs, no scholarship or research. There would be, in effect, no university.
Professors aren’t simply people who stand in front of a class and deliver a set of facts. They are, or should be, active, thoughtful scholars, capable of leading profound discussions and conducting high-level research. They are, or can be, mentors to individual students, advisers to student organizations, and coordinators of special projects, conferences and events. Finally, they are, or can be, deeply involved in the professional world. They can help students find internships and work experience, during and after their time at a university.
You’ll want to know: Were professors trained at an esteemed university? Did they achieve the highest degree in their field? Have they conducted important research and published their work? What professional contacts or experience do they bring into the classroom?
You’ll also want to know the university’s approach to teaching. Are classes conducted only as lectures, or do professors encourage discussion and debate? Do most classes require rote memorization, or do professors value critical thinking and creative problem solving? Are professors expected to engage with students out of class? Do students work with professors on their research?
Research
At most universities, professors have two major responsibilities: teaching and research. Teaching obviously involves students. What about research? The answer is: It depends. Some professors engage in research with their colleagues and perhaps the assistance of a few graduate students; undergraduate students are not involved. Some professors routinely ask their undergraduate students to assist them with their research — an invaluable opportunity for students to gain experience in the field. In general, a university’s approach to student involvement in research is an extension of its approach to teaching. If teachers expect students to be active participants in class, if they serve as mentors and advisers outside the classroom, then they’ll be more likely to involve students in their research.
Students
The quality of your life at a university — even the quality of your education — is determined in large part by the quality of your peers. Why? Because they’ll determine the level of discussion inside and outside of class: if they’re bright, articulate and open-minded, your discussions will follow suit. They’ll shape the campus culture: if they’re entrepreneurial and active, you’ll find lively student organizations and a full slate of events on campus every week. They’ll even have a hand in shaping your personal and professional life: if they’re caring and kind, they’ll provide a welcome support network; if they’re ambitious and accomplished, they may be a rich source of job opportunities and partnerships in the future.
Finally, they’ll teach you about the world. If they come to campus with a variety of perspectives and backgrounds, you’ll learn about other ways of thinking and living.
The key question is: Does the university try to attract the kind of students you’d want to be with?
Curriculum and Majors
The majors and programs that a university offers are perhaps less important than the way in which it teaches its subjects.
If, for example, you majored in engineering, would you study only engineering? Would you receive only specialized training and learn only the skills specific to your discipline? The benefit to such an approach is that you’d gain early mastery in the field. The drawback is that you’d leave the university with a limited, narrow set of skills, not easily expandable or applicable to other work.
The way in which a university teaches its subjects is a reflection of its larger academic program, its curriculum. Does it require every student to take certain classes? Which classes? To what purpose? Does it offer strictly vocational training, preparing students to perform specific tasks in specific fields? Or does it offer another kind of curriculum? A liberal arts curriculum, for example, is designed to provide exposure to a range of fields and a grounding in broadly applicable critical skills.
Keep in mind, too, that a major is not always meant to be a formal declaration of your career path. Some of the finest lawyers, for example, take an undergraduate major in literature or history or political science.
Library
A university library is meant to be a resource center, a storehouse of printed and electronic documents and research tools, staffed by trained professionals.
What does that mean to you? In the most practical terms, your university’s library is the starting point for any serious research or scholarship you’ll do. It allows you to know the work that has been done before you — and so it allows you to imagine the work you’ll do in the future.
A major library is also a signal of a university’s commitment to serious research. If a university invests in its library, then it invests in the advancement of knowledge. In the most general terms, a library is a monument to human culture: We preserve much of our history, our civilization, in our libraries.
A university’s library reveals a great deal about the mission and purpose of the institution. Even if a university doesn’t have a major library, it should provide access to similar resources, perhaps through a partnership with other institutions.
Facilities
Aside from the most prominent resources — faculty, students, library — what does a university offer in support of its academic mission?
It offers classrooms and labs, offices and meeting rooms, playing courts and stadiums, art studios and theaters, dining halls and residential housing.
Some universities might not offer all of these things — but most will offer a majority of them. The question, then, is about quality: Are the classrooms, offices and meeting rooms efficiently designed and fully updated? Are the labs, studios and theaters equipped with the latest technology and the most current tools? Are the athletic and residential facilities clean and contemporary?
There’s also a larger question to consider: What do a university’s facilities tell you about its larger mission? Is the campus a random collection of buildings, or does it feel integrated and coherent? Which facilities are the most developed? If a university boasts a gleaming new soccer stadium but offers only dilapidated classrooms and studios, then you know something about its priorities.
Value
It’s often said that you get from a university what you put into it. In other words, you make your education valuable. If you work hard, get involved, seek out resources and take advantage of every opportunity — then you’ll have given yourself a valuable education. If you neglect your work, ignore resources and avoid opportunities — then even the most expensive education is worthless.
This is true, as far as it goes. But it doesn’t get to the heart of the matter: A university education — any education — is an investment.
It’s an investment in an obvious, tangible way: If you attend a public university that doesn’t charge tuition, you’re investing at least four years of your time and energy. And you or perhaps your family are investing time and energy and money to support you. If you attend a private university, you’ll pay tuition — though a good university should be able to offer generous scholarships to support worthy students.
It’s also a larger, more abstract investment: an investment in your future.
So perhaps it’s more accurate to say that every student is capable of increasing the value of his or her education. Every university can claim a certain set of resources — faculty and students, library and facilities, reputation and history — and these resources have value. By the quality of your work and by the level of your commitment to your education, you can raise or lower the value of those resources.
An education is a reciprocal relationship. Its value is determined not simply by the quality of the university’s resources, not simply by the quality of your work, but by the way those two elements work together.
So you shouldn’t assume that you’re getting a bargain if your education is “free.” Nor should you assume that an “expensive” education is more valuable. Ask yourself what a university can give you — and what you’re willing to give in return.
Career Services
Here’s one thing a university can give you — though many students don’t understand how important it is until they’re close to graduating: an office of career services.
What can it do for you? As early as your first year at university, it can help you find internships and work experience, provide counseling and guidance about your future plans, and help you make contact with alumni and working professionals in your field of interest. When you’re ready to think about searching for full-time jobs, it can help you prepare a resume, sharpen your interviewing skills, meet employers and consider your options.
In other words, it can help you integrate your coursework and your professional goals. Even after you’ve graduated, it can serve as a valuable employment tool: it can distribute your resume to potential employers, keep you connected to other working alumni, and offer a library of materials to help you find the right job.
If you’re serious about your future, examine a university’s career services office. It should be stocked with resources and programs and staffed by trained professionals.
Alumni
A university’s alumni are perhaps the most accurate measure of the quality — or simply the kind — of education the university offers.
If a university’s alumni are leaders in their fields; if they find meaningful, challenging work; if they build interesting, full lives; if they make a difference in the world — then it’s fair to assume that the university offers an education that promotes leadership, prizes analysis and imagination, and encourages profound reflection and hands-on experience.
If a university’s top alumni work in middle management; if they’re efficient, productive workers; if they use the same skills over and over — then the university can be said to offer an education that focuses on rote memorization, vocational training and rigid adherence to accepted standards. If a university’s alumni struggle to find work, if their lives are scattered and incomplete — then the university is most likely struggling and scattered as well.
Of course, every university produces alumni who fall into all three of these categories — and somewhere in between. Still, it’s fair to ask: In what fields, and at what level, do most of a university’s alumni find work? What have its best alumni accomplished? What kind of graduates does the university aspire to produce? And, finally, what kind of graduate do you aspire to be?