Dive Brief:

• A new study in the American Educational Research Journal finds that the graduation prospects of a student at a four-year college are not affected by how selective that college is.
• The study also finds that a student attending a college that charges a higher tuition rate will have a slightly better chance of graduating.
• The study measured a college’s selectivity by the average SAT scores of the students who were admitted.

Dive Insight:

When a student is evaluating a prospective college, the study advises, it’s probably best to focus on how close the school is to home, the financial aid offer, the availability of programs and faculty, and personal preferences, instead of the college’s average test scores for admitted students. The finding on tuition deserves more study, according to the report. The study’s authors are from the City University of New York and the Institute for Social Research in Oslo, Norway.