Education institution selection system and method

• US 20040138913A1
• Filed: 11/12/2003
• Published: 07/15/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: My College Advisor LLC
• Original Assignee: Turning Point For Life Inc.
• Inventors: Guerra, Anthony John
• Granted Patent: US 7,162,431 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/2053 Education institution selection, admissions, or financial aid
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/02 of the type wherein the student is expected to construct an answer to the question which is presented or wherein the machine gives an answer to the question presented by a student

Abstract

A system, method, and computer program product for selecting an educational institution, including determining selection criteria for an educational institution, including a location of the educational institution, a type and size of the educational institution, and an admission selectivity of the educational institution; and generating a list of one or more recommended schools satisfying the selection criteria, wherein the recommended schools satisfy predetermined freshman retention rates and graduation rates.

Claims

1. A method for selecting an educational institution, comprising:

determining selection criteria for an educational institution, including a location of the educational institution, a type and size of the educational institution, and an admission selectivity of the educational institution; and

generating a list of one or more recommended schools satisfying the selection criteria, wherein the recommended schools satisfy predetermined freshman retention rates and graduation rates.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said method is employed to make a best choice in selecting an educational institution.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the location includes one of a northeast region, a south region, a midwest region, and a west region of the United States.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the type and size of the educational institution can include research or large universities, liberal arts colleges, small or medium universities, specialized colleges, schools with special characteristics, community colleges, and top 21 private and public institutions.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a sliding scale standard for the freshman retention rates and the graduation rates based on the admission selectivity of an educational institution.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

requiring proportionately higher standards for the freshman retention rates and the graduation rates for an educational institution having higher admissions standards; and

requiring proportionately lower standards for the freshman retention rates and the graduation rates for an educational institution having lower admissions standards.

7. A system for selecting an educational institution, comprising:

means for determining selection criteria for an educational institution, including a location of the educational institution, a type and size of the educational institution, and an admission selectivity of the educational institution; and

means for generating a list of one or more recommended schools satisfying the selection criteria, wherein the recommended schools satisfy predetermined freshman retention rates and graduation rates.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein said system is employed to make a best choice in selecting an educational institution.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the location includes one of a northeast region, a south region, a midwest region, and a west region of the United States.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the type and size of the educational institution can include research or large universities, liberal arts colleges, small or medium universities, specialized colleges, schools with special characteristics, community colleges, and top 21 private and public institutions.

11. The system of claim 7, further comprising:

means for providing a sliding scale standard for the freshman retention rates and the graduation rates based on the admission selectivity of an educational institution.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

means for requiring proportionately higher standards for the freshman retention rates and the graduation rates for an educational institution having higher admissions standards; and

means for requiring proportionately lower standards for the freshman retention rates and the graduation rates for an educational institution having lower admissions standards.

13. The system of claim 7, wherein the means for determining and the means for generating comprise devices of a computer system.

14. The system of claim 7, wherein the means for determining and the means for generating comprise computer-readable instructions stored on a computer readable medium.