Making good on President Obama’s promise from his State of the Union Address, the U.S. Department of Education has posted an interactive “College Scorecard” online to assist parents and students in their selection of an institution of higher learning.

    If the criteria for selecting a college is higher graduation rates and low defaults on student loans, Idaho students should be looking at the privately run LDS university, BYU-Idaho in Rexburg, or the state’s oldest university and land grant institution, the University of Idaho in Moscow.

    “We know students and families are often overwhelmed in the college search process — but feel they lack the tools to sort through the information and decide which school is right for them,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “The College Scorecard provides a snapshot about an institution’s cost and value to help families make smart decisions about where to enroll.”

    Each scorecard on the federal website includes five key pieces of data about a college: costs, graduation rate, loan default rate, average amount borrowed and employment. Post-college employment information has not been compiled yet.

    Looking at the data that has been put on the Department of Education website, BYU-Idaho looks pretty inviting.

    The cost is ranked as “low” with the average yearly net price for an undergraduate student at $9,180, according to the website. The graduation rate of BYU-I students enrolled in college for the first time who completed at least a bachelor’s degree within six years was 52.7 percent with another 19.7 percent transferring to another institution. The default rate on federally-guaranteed students loans was 2.4 percent. BYU-Idaho students taking federal loans borrowed about $110 per month.

    The University of Idaho also ranked relatively high in graduation rates with 50.9 percent  receiving a bachelor’s degree within six years and another 32.3 percent transferring to another institution of learning.

    Costs for attending the U of I for a year were listed at $13,253 and the student loan default rate was 5.1 percent with students borrowing an average of $225 per month.

    Attending Idaho State University was cheaper at $11,440 at per year, but the graduation rate is only 26 percent within six years with another 27 percent of first-time college students transferring to another school. The student loan default rate for ISU is 8.3 percent with loans averaging $184 per month.

    Boise State shared similar statistics with a graduation rate within six years at 29.2 percent with another 22 percent transferring to another school to finish their degree. The student loan default rate at BSU was 7.8 percent with loans averaging $171 per month. The cost per year to attend Boise State as $13,082.

    Looking at junior colleges and technical schools, Eastern Idaho Technical College in Idaho Falls looks attractive for graduation rates, according to the federal website. EITC has a graduation rate of 56.8 percent for its programs within 150 percent of the expected completion time. The college loan default rate is 10.2 percent with the average month amount borrowed at $66. The cost for a year at EITC was $10,788.

    The College of Southern Idaho had a graduation rate for its programs within 150 percent of the expected completion time of 17.4 percent with 14.5 transferring. The student loan default rate at CSI is 17.5 percent with loans averaging $73 per month. The annual cost to attend the college in Twin Falls is $5,993 per year.

    On the other side of the state, the College of Idaho in Caldwell (formerly Albertson’s College) had a graduation rate of 63.4 percent and a student loan default rate of only 3.2 percent. The annual cost to attend was $16,742.

    There were no statistics compiled for Lewis and Clark State College in Lewiston.

    All of the Idaho institutions of higher learning listed on the Department of Education website had higher graduation rates and lower student loan defaults than the largest online university in the West, the University of Phoenix, headquartered in Arizona. Its graduation rate within six years was 16.7 percent with a student loan default rate of 26.4 percent. The annual cost was $21,176. The median loan to attend the University of Phoenix was $135 per month.

    “Through tax credits, grants and better loans, we’ve made college more affordable for millions of students and families over the last few years,” Obama said in his State of Union Address. “But taxpayers can’t keep on subsidizing higher and higher and higher costs for higher education. Colleges must do their part to keep costs down, and it’s our job to make sure that they do.”