Jonah and I are sick as dogs this morning. I think it's strep throat, but I have to wait until 8:30 to set up doctor's appointments for us. In the meantime, I'm playing with Obama's College Scorecard. 

I started getting sick on Monday night, so I wasn't completely conscious during all of Obama's State of the Union speech, but my ears picked up when he said that he was putting together a interactive College Scorecard, which will inform students about which colleges provide them with the most "bang for their buck." 

Wahoo!!! Love this. 

At first, I was a little worried about what data that was going to go into the chart. Also, I thought that choosing schools doesn't necessarily need a fancy chart, just common sense rules. Some helpful rules:

• Don't get an AA degree anywhere but at a super cheap community college. Go to a local community college, live at home, and get a part time job.
• Don't take out anymore than $15,000 in loans. 
• Try your damnest to get done in four years. 
• Don't choose a school based on the college atmosphere. 
• Never get a Masters Degree in anything, except if it is guarenteed to increase your salary. 
• Never get a PhD in anything.
• Never get any degree in a profession that doesn't require a degree. (You don't need an AA degree in party planning, for example.)
• I would like to tell people to avoid schools where the professors don't actually teach any courses, but it's hard to find positive examples anymore. 

That said, some people really don't know which schools are ripping them off and which ones aren't. I can tell right away, but not everybody has that experience.

I'm playing with Obama's College Scorecard this morning. It's a little buggy, but it's interesting. I like how it focused in on the variables that I think are the most important – finishing in six years, student default rate, and all that. What do you think?