Luther College's website is now providing comparative data about Luther and other Midwest colleges and universities

Prospective Luther College students and their parents can now get some objective information to compare Luther with other schools.

The college has started www.luther.edu/value, web pages that have data from the National Center for Educational Statistics that can be used to compare colleges.  For instance, the Value Site has information about four-year graduation rates, student-to-faculty ratios, retention rates of students from their first year to their second year and tuition costs, including net costs.

Luther College Executive Director of Communications and Marketing Rob Larson says the decision to create the web pages was made because sometimes the way prospective students perceived Luther College wasn't the same way Luther officials perceived the college.  Larson also says parents and prospective students aren't always very well trained in ways to make good decisions about which colleges to select--and Luther officials are hoping the comparative data will help.  Finally, the web pages meet the requirements of federal financial aid programs requiring NCES data disclosures.

Luther does not always rank at the top of the comparative figures.  But Larson says the school wants to be transparent with prospective students.

The initial reaction to the web pages has been "really good," says Larson.  It has been live for just under two months.  Luther is promoting the web pages with banners elsewhere on its website and by having admissions counselors e-mail the address to prospective students.

The Value Site will get a big push just before classes start up again this fall.  Luther is working on a major redesign of its Admissions Department website and the Value information will be displayed prominently.