The first thing to consider when researching grad schools is what are you looking for in your graduate studies. Perhaps you want a broad subject basis or maybe you are looking to specialize in a specific area. You may be interested in a program that has a heavy research basis or one that is focused on classroom lectures. You would like to be in a quaint college town or you want to be in a city. These types of items should be considered when you are researching different graduate courses.
One reason you need to research graduate courses is to figure out which schools to apply to. Every school has an admissions fee, ranging from $25 to $150, depending on the school. Hence, you don't want to apply to every school offering the program you're interested in. By researching grad schools, you can figure out your chance of admission, based on your undergraduate work, your GPA and your GRE scores. The Princeton Review suggests applying to three schools you'll definitely be accepted into, two schools that may accept you and the school that you really like, but probably won't accept you.
After you research different graduate courses, it's time to narrow down your choices and visit the schools and programs on the top of your list. When visiting the universities you can sit in on a class, browse the libraries, talk to the faculty and hang out with the students. This will let you know if the feel of the campus is what you are looking for and if it is the right fit for you.
The Princeton Review offers multiple suggestions and ideas about researching and choosing a graduate school that is right for you. It also allows you to search its database of different graduate schools and programs. PhDs.org is another website that will aid in researching graduate courses. Based on the 2010 National Research Council data, this website's database includes 18,505 programs at 1,958 different universities.