Educational decision-making tool

Abstract

Particular embodiments may provide an education decision-making tool. User input comprising profile information and educational goals information for a potential student may be received. A cost-benefit assessment may be computed for each of one or more educational programs based on the profile information and the educational goals information. A return-on-investment (ROI) assessment may be computed for each of the educational programs based on the educational goals information and the cost assessment. In some embodiments, the ROI assessment for one of the educational programs may be further based on historical information (e.g., demographic information and education information) for a plurality of students. One or more of the educational programs may be selected based on the respective ROI assessments. Finally, information regarding the selected educational programs may be sent to a client computing device.

1 .- 14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . A method for providing an education decision-making tool, comprising:
 determining, by one or more processors of a computer server, user input received from a client computing device associated with a user, wherein the user input corresponds to profile information, one or more preference factors, and career goals information for a person, and wherein the user input comprises an instruction to modify at least one weight to be applied to one of the preference factors;   computing, by the one or more processors, for each of a plurality of educational programs, a cost-benefit assessment for the user based on the profile information and the career goals information;   computing, by the one or more processors, for each of the educational programs, a return-on-investment (ROI) assessment for the user based on: the career goals information, the one or more preference factors weighted based on respective weights, and the cost-benefit assessment;   modifying, by the one or more processors, the ROI assessment for each of the educational programs based on at least one modified weight for each of the one or more preference factors;   selecting, by the one or more processors, one or more of the educational programs based on the respective modified ROI assessments; and   causing, by the one or more processors, a user interface displayed on the client computing device to present information about the educational programs, wherein the information about the selected one or more educational programs is presented visually more prominently than the information corresponding to other ones of the educational programs.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 accessing a database comprising historical information for a plurality of people, the historical information comprising demographic information and education information, wherein the ROI assessment for one of the educational programs is further based on the historical information.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 requesting, from users of the education decision-making tool, demographic information and education information, wherein the ROI assessment for one of the educational programs is further based on the demographic information and the education information.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the profile information and the career goals information for the person is based on a personalized set of information associated with a unique identifier for the person. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein selecting one or more of the educational programs further comprises:
 ranking, by the one or more processors, the educational programs based on the respective ROI assessments.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the ROI assessment is computed for each of a plurality of users, further comprising:
 generating, by the one or more processors, a ranked list of the users based on their respective ROI assessments; and   providing, by the one or more processors, the ranked list to the client computing device.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the modified weights for each of the one or more preference factors are based on criteria customized for the user. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 detecting a user interaction with one or more interactive elements displayed within the user interface;   in response to the detected user interaction, generating a shareable resource uniquely representative of the selected one or more of the educational programs; and   causing, by the one or more processors, the user interface executing on the client computing device to display the selected one or more of the educational programs together with the shareable resource.   
     
     
         23 . A computer server, comprising:
 one or more processors; and   one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer server to perform operation comprising:   determining, by one or more processors of a computer server, user input received from a client computing device associated with a user, wherein the user input corresponds to profile information, one or more preference factors, and career goals information for a person, and wherein the user input comprises an instruction to modify at least one weight to be applied to one of the preference factors;   computing, by the one or more processors, for each of a plurality of educational programs, a cost-benefit assessment for the user based on the profile information and the career goals information;   computing, by the one or more processors, for each of the educational programs, a return-on-investment (ROI) assessment for the user based on: the career goals information, the one or more preference factors weighted based on respective weights, and the cost-benefit assessment;   modifying, by the one or more processors, the ROI assessment for each of the educational programs based on at least one modified weight for each of the one or more preference factors;   selecting, by the one or more processors, one or more of the educational programs based on the respective modified ROI assessments; and   causing, by the one or more processors, a user interface displayed on the client computing device to present information about the educational programs, wherein the information about the selected one or more educational programs is presented visually more prominently than the information corresponding to other ones of the educational programs.   
     
     
         24 . The computer server of  claim 23 , further performing operations comprising:
 accessing a database comprising historical information for a plurality of people, the historical information comprising demographic information and education information, wherein the ROI assessment for one of the educational programs is further based on the historical information.   
     
     
         25 . The computer server of  claim 23 , further performing operations comprising:
 requesting, from users of the education decision-making tool, demographic information and education information, wherein the ROI assessment for one of the educational programs is further based on the demographic information and the education information.   
     
     
         26 . The computer server of  claim 23 , wherein the profile information and the career goals information for the person is based on a personalized set of information associated with a unique identifier for the person. 
     
     
         27 . The computer server of  claim 23 , wherein selecting one or more of the educational programs further comprises:
 ranking, by the one or more processors, the educational programs based on the respective ROI assessments.   
     
     
         28 . The computer server of  claim 23 , wherein the ROI assessment is computed for each of a plurality of users, further performing operations comprising:
 generating, by the one or more processors, a ranked list of the users based on their respective ROI assessments; and   providing, by the one or more processors, the ranked list to the client computing device.   
     
     
         29 . The computer server of  claim 23 , wherein the modified weights for each of the one or more preference factors are based on criteria customized for the user. 
     
     
         30 . The computer server of  claim 23 , further performing operations comprising:
 detecting a user interaction with one or more interactive elements displayed within the user interface;   in response to the detected user interaction, generating a shareable resource uniquely representative of the selected one or more of the educational programs; and   causing, by the one or more processors, the user interface executing on the client computing device to display the selected one or more of the educational programs together with the shareable resource.   
     
     
         31 . A computer-readable non-transitory storage media comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the computer server to perform operation comprising:
 determining, by one or more processors of a computer server, user input received from a client computing device associated with a user, wherein the user input corresponds to profile information, one or more preference factors, and career goals information for a person, and wherein the user input comprises an instruction to modify at least one weight to be applied to one of the preference factors;   computing, by the one or more processors, for each of a plurality of educational programs, a cost-benefit assessment for the user based on the profile information and the career goals information;   computing, by the one or more processors, for each of the educational programs, a return-on-investment (ROI) assessment for the user based on: the career goals information, the one or more preference factors weighted based on respective weights, and the cost-benefit assessment;   modifying, by the one or more processors, the ROI assessment for each of the educational programs based on at least one modified weight for each of the one or more preference factors;   selecting, by the one or more processors, one or more of the educational programs based on the respective modified ROI assessments; and   causing, by the one or more processors, a user interface displayed on the client computing device to present information about the educational programs, wherein the information about the selected one or more educational programs is presented visually more prominently than the information corresponding to other ones of the educational programs.   
     
     
         32 . The computer-readable non-transitory storage media of  claim 31 , further performing operations comprising:
 accessing a database comprising historical information for a plurality of people, the historical information comprising demographic information and education information, wherein the ROI assessment for one of the educational programs is further based on the historical information.   
     
     
         33 . The computer-readable non-transitory storage media of  claim 31 , further performing operations comprising:
 requesting, from users of the education decision-making tool, demographic information and education information, wherein the ROI assessment for one of the educational programs is further based on the demographic information and the education information.   
     
     
         34 . The computer-readable non-transitory storage media of  claim 31 , wherein the profile information and the career goals information for the person is based on a personalized set of information associated with a unique identifier for the person. 
     
     
         35 . The computer-readable non-transitory storage media of  claim 31 , wherein selecting one or more of the educational programs further comprises:
 ranking, by the one or more processors, the educational programs based on the respective ROI assessments.