Choosing College

Cut Through the Noise and Make Better College and Career Choices "By focusing on the different reasons why students choose to go to college, Michael Horn and Bob Moesta offer an entirely fresh approach to coping with the admissions process. Learners contemplating further education at every stage of life will gain important insights from this book. So will educators who wish to serve their students better." —RICHARD LEVIN, President Emeritus, Yale University "Choosing College is a great guide for families and students to navigate the very complicated river of life at the college selection stage. Like a seasoned set of river pilots, Horn and Moesta guide you through the twists and turns and help keep you off the sand bars of stress. This book helps you to find 'your' way as there is no 'the' way. It is a great personal guide to a very complex process." —MICHAEL M. CROW, President, Arizona State University "Choosing College resonates with me as a parent of three college-aged daughters, an education executive, a former college instructor, and a public policy wonk. Horn and Moesta bring a new and timely framework to this vital decision-making process and families, like mine, as well as education leaders across many disciplines and sectors will find their insights applicable to the critically important life-long learning sector." —JANE SWIFT, Former Governor of Massachusetts "This book is not a guide to college selection. It's a thoughtful and clear pathway for all learners to make the best decisions about who they are, what they want to do and what schools, colleges, and universities should provide to help them get there." —BEV PERDUE, Former Governor of North Carolina "Choosing College tackles one of the most complex and foundational decisions facing society today. Michael Horn and Bob Moesta go beyond dissecting the decision and formulating a return-on-investment. They frame a systemic approach to assist the reader in making a customized decision that is best for every individual. The break-through approach is the application of the popular 'Jobs to Be Done' innovation methodology as a means of providing the reader with a pragmatic step-by-step model to make the most informed choices for their unique situation." —BRAD D. SMITH, Executive Chairman, Intuit, Inc. Cut through the noise and make better college and career choices This book is about addressing the college-choosing problem. The rankings, metrics, analytics, college visits, and advice that we use today to help us make these decisions are out of step with the progress individual students are trying to make. They don't give students and families the information and context they need to make such a high-stakes decision about whether and where to get an education. Choosing College strips away the noise to help you understand why you’re going to school. What's driving you? What are you trying to accomplish? Once you know why, the book will help you make better choices. The research in this book illustrates that choosing a school is complicated. By constructing more than 200 mini-documentaries of how students chose different postsecondary educational experiences, the authors explore the motivations for how and why people make the decisions that they do at a much deeper, causal level. By the end, you’ll know why you’re going and what you’re really chasing. The book: Identifies the five different Jobs for which students hire postsecondary education Allows you to see your true options for what’s next Offers guidance for how to successfully choose your pathway Illuminates how colleges and entrepreneurs can build better experiences for each Job The authors help readers understand not what job students want out of college, but what "Job" students are hiring college to do for them.