Strong Consumer Demand, the Best College Data ... and Now a Launch Date

After more than a year in development, the U-CAN web site is now set to go live in just a few weeks. On Wednesday, September 26, we will launch U-CAN during a news conference in Washington, D.C. At the start of the morning press event (time to be announced), the U-CAN Web site will become accessible to the public.

Georgetown College Joins U-CAN: Participant List Tops 450

Georgetown College in Kentucky today became the 450th institution to sign-up for U-CAN.

Others who signed up since the last update:

La Roche College (Pennsylvania)
Hamline University (Minnesota)
St. Edwards University (Texas)
Marist College (New York)
Boston College (Massachusetts)
Dominican University of California
Paul Smith's College (New York)
Kentucky Mountain Bible College (Kentucky)
Marywood University (Pennsylvania)
Marian College of Fund Du Lac (Wisconsin(
Lyon College (Arkansas)
Waynesburg University (Pennsylvania)
Heritage University (Washington)
Chestnut Hill College (Pennsylvania)
Marymount Manhattan College (New York)
Southeastern University (District of Columbia)
Northwest University (Washington)

U-CAN Opens for Data Entry by Participating Institutions

Today NAICU opened U-CAN for data entry by participating institutions. Nearly 450 colleges and universities received their log-in information and began the process of putting their information into the system.

That puts us one step closer to providing important consumer information to prospective students and parents. Stay tuned for updates on the progress of the the data entry.

Growing and Growing

The number of institutions participating in U-CAN continues to grow. The list now tops 430, with new institutions added daily.

Today's additions:
Denison University (Ohio)
University of Indianapolis (Indiana)
Rockhurst University (Missouri)
Brenau University (Georgia)
College of Wooster (Ohio)
Santa Clara University (California)

Click here for the complete list of participating institutions.

Deciphering Morse Code

In a posting on Morse Code yesterday, U.S. News data director Bob Morse writes that the magazine “welcome[s] the publication of more higher education data” from alternative sources. Of course, we thought that welcome would extend to U-CAN. Alas, it wasn’t to be. Nothing but rotten tomatoes for our consumer-informed college information source. No mention of how focus groups with students and parents are driving the concise content and user-friendly design of U-CAN’s college and university profiles. No kudos for making our rich repository of more than 400 profiles free to the public. No compliments on how nicely the profiles will interface with targeted pages of institution web sites. NAICU, for the record, takes no stance on the validity of the U.S. News rankings.

Spotlight on U-CAN Grows Brighter

Newspapers in Texas (here and here), Indiana, and Ohio are the latest media outlets to cite the U-CAN initiative. Their stories yesterday and today follow a slew of other clips that have mentioned the NAICU consumer information tool and highlighted participating institutions since last Friday, when U.S. News released its 2008 rankings. Take a look at the complete listing of U-CAN stories, including pieces in the Washington Post, New York Times, and Time magazine (here and here). Let us know if we’ve missed any.

The U-CAN Blog

Welcome to the U-CAN blog. We will use this space to keep you updated on important information about U-CAN, media coverage, and other news and events. We welcome your comments.