Visit the "U.S. News & World Report" Education Center link provided in the Resources section of this article and search for the name of the college you are rating. If you're rating George State University, for example, type that name into the "Search for a school by name" search box on the center of the page. From the search results page, you can access information such as number enrolled, tuition rates, acceptance rates and other information, such as demographics of the student body and graduation rates.
Go to the College Stats link provided in the Resources section of this article and search for the college, or colleges, you are rating. Perform a search for the college you want to rate and examine its statistics page. Following the George State University example, you can obtain quantitative information such as percentage of students who fell within a certain range of scores on admissions tests like the ACT and SAT, as well as statistical information on the student body and faculty.
Perform a search for information on the surrounding geographic area of the college that you are rating. Use the U.S. Census Bureau's Data Access Tools (see Resources) to find more about the campus and its surrounding environment. Consider factors such as crime rates, living costs, population density and average per capita income.
Compile the information you've obtained in Steps 1 through 3 and determine which college rates the highest for you, relative to any others you may be taking into consideration. If you are looking to save money, you will probably want to avoid colleges with a high tuition cost and high cost of living in the surrounding area. However, if you are commuting, the living costs of the area may be irrelevant, so the college would rate higher for you. Be sure to take academic fit into consideration as you rate the colleges, as you will want to attend one that offers options which align with your desired career track.