Campus News

Westminster Leads Utah Universities to Standardize College Data

September 25, 2007 

New U-CAN Web Site Provides Alternative to College Ranking Systems 

Westminster College has joined more than 500 independent colleges and universities across the county to launch U-CAN, a first-of-its-kind initiative designed to provide prospective college students with comprehensive and comparable information to help them evaluate their educational choices. The new website, www.ucan-network.org is set to go live on Wednesday, September 26.

Until the launch of U-CAN, there was no single objective resource for prospective students to identify the college or university that would best meet their needs. The need for such a tool has been amplified recently, as some schools have criticized the ranking system used by U.S. News & World Report, and Congress and the U.S. Department of Education have called for higher education institutions to be more transparent about prices, costs, and other consumer information.

U-CAN, which stands for University and College Accountability Network, has been coordinated through the efforts of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU). Westminster College is the only school in Utah participating in this network.

“Choosing the right college is one of the most important decisions a student and his family will make,” said Westminster President Michael Bassis. “Students and their families need to make their college selection based on a wide range of factors, including the student’s academic and extracurricular interests, the type of learning environment that is most suitable for them, and of course, financial considerations.”

“By providing free, easy access to comparable information including graduation rates, academic majors, student body demographics, and net costs, U-CAN will make it easier for families to find the schools that provide the best fit,” Bassis continued.

U-CAN is designed to provide, in a standardized format, concise, web-based, consumer-friendly, searchable information on individual private colleges and universities. U-CAN consists of institutional profiles that contain comparable data and hyperlinks to qualitative campus information. The information provided in the U-CAN institutional profiles derived from the U.S. Department of Education’s IPEDS survey and the Common Data Set.

NAICU will launch the U-CAN web site on September 26, 2007 during a telephone press conference, which begins at 9:00a.m. Mountain Time (11:00 am Eastern Time)
Reporters who want to call into the news conference should contact Tony Pals at NAICU, at 202-739-0474, or tony@naicu.edu.

Westminster is a nationally recognized, comprehensive liberal arts college distinguished by its unique approach to learning. With a broad array of graduate and undergraduate programs, Westminster prepares students for success with its emphasis on active learning, real world experiences and its vibrant campus community. These are further enriched by the opportunities presented by Westminster’s unique location, adjacent to the Rocky Mountains and to the dynamic city of Salt Lake. For more information visit www.westminstercollege.edu .