Despite what its marketing team may want you to believe, no school can offer the best programs in all fields of study. Before choosing a college, you can get a sense of its overall academic quality and reputation by looking at BestColleges’ rankings.
Next, check that the college is regionally or nationally accredited. Regional accreditation is generally considered a more reliable indicator of academic quality. Then, investigate whether individual academic departments are accredited in their field. For example, if you plan on pursuing a business administration degree, you’ll want a program that’s been accredited by a professional association.
You might also try to gauge the career and research achievements of the faculty in your department by seeing whether they’ve won any awards or received recognition for any groundbreaking publications or discoveries.