Home News Google’s college search bias – AEI

Google’s college search bias – AEI

22
0

Last year Google entered the college search business, and the Washington D.C. policy community has had nothing but good things to say about it. Punch in any university on your smartphone and a beautiful display of menus and easy-to-read statistics instantly appear. Graduation rates, tuition prices, student loan repayment rates, and expected earnings are all at your fingertips.

This feature runs on the US Department of Education’s College Scorecard and other government data. But Google’s college search has a major blindspot that its champions have either failed to notice or aren’t willing to call out: it only covers traditional four-year colleges.

Even worse, community colleges appear like any other business rather than institutions of higher education. For-profit colleges are also given short shrift. In other words, Google’s search-display magic is reserved for students interested in just one part of our higher education sector — the one that mostly caters to traditional, full-time students seeking academic credentials who are often from upper-income households.

View Original Source

tags:

LEAVE YOUR COMMENT

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *