(MONEY Magazine) – A rite of autumn for many high school students and their parents is to visit the colleges on their wish list. But what precisely should you look for? By knowing how to size up an institution, you can make a better match -- and be more confident you'll get what you pay for. One of the most knowledgeable sources on the inner workings of schools is Ernest Boyer, 58, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and author of the recently published College: The Undergraduate Experience in America (Harper & Row, $19.95; 800-638-3030). To prepare this report, Boyer visited 29 campuses and surveyed thousands of faculty and students. Among his conclusions: ''There is no single model of 'the good college.' '' To help parents and students choose a college that's right for them, an epilogue to Boyer's book lists questions you should ask admissions officers, faculty and students in order to grade the institution's quality. His points:

Your exploration of a college begins before you ever set foot on the campus. Check how the school presents its mission in the curriculum catalogue and in promotional materials such as brochures and viewbooks. Does that mission match your objectives? Are the admissions criteria clearly stated, explaining how a student's high school grades, standardized test scores and other achievements are weighed? As a measure of the school's selectivity, check how many more students apply than are accepted. Schools have an urgent obligation to promote diversity on campus. Do the college's recruiting and financial aid policies affirm a commitment to a heterogeneous student body? Are minority groups well represented? For freshmen, the first few weeks on campus can influence their entire undergraduate career. Is there a well-planned freshman orientation program, perhaps with a special convocation and a course covering the academic as well as social and personal aspects of campus life? A college should work as hard at holding students as it does at enrolling them. Has the school's retention rate -- the number of freshmen who stay on to graduate -- exceeded 50% for the past five years? Is there a year-round program of academic advising and of personal counseling? How does the school identify students in trouble, academic or otherwise, and help them? A formidable barrier to success in college and later life is deficiency in language. Are a student's reading and writing skills assessed upon enrollment? Is there a required freshman language course that emphasizes writing and speaking ability? - Educated people must understand how their own origins and interests are tied to those of others. A key to this enlightened perspective is a curriculum that balances courses in the humanities and sciences. Check the graduation requirements in the catalogue. Can a student graduate without, say, ever taking a foreign language or a math course? A student eventually declares an academic major. Specialization, however, needn't be narrowing. In the catalogue, the various academic disciplines list their requirements for majors. Does this major sequence include courses on the specialty's history, social and economic implications, and moral issues? Any curriculum can only be as strong as the people teaching it. A school's commitment to teaching depends partly on the institution's mission. At many colleges and universities, the faculty are encouraged to be researchers as well as teachers. At the school you're considering, do the most respected professors regularly teach undergraduate courses, and at what level? Universities often hire graduate students as auxiliary faculty. Sometimes a school's overuse of grad-student teaching assistants is controversial. Ask students what they think about the teaching assistants they know from their classrooms. All professors, whether or not they are also doing research, should be encouraged to be scholars up to date in their discipline. Does the college sponsor faculty renewal in such practical ways as providing funds for further study or for travel to scholarly meetings? An important criterion for faculty quality at any institution: Do students formally evaluate their professors? Do those evaluations count in hiring or tenure decisions? On campus, stroll the halls where classes are in session. Are professors merely lecturing, or is there animated back-and-forth with students? Ask students whether their professors keep generous office hours and are approachable as well for informal conversation at the snack bar or in the dining hall. Also, visit the college library. A quality school gives high priority to independent study and to learning resources outside the classroom. Is the library more than a study hall? How are students encouraged to use its facilities? Are the librarians considered teachers? Learning isn't strictly academic. Does the college sponsor many campus-wide activities such as concerts, debates, guest lectures and symposia? In athletics, does the school maintain proportion and promote intramural as well as intercollegiate competition? Service to others is a central part of education. How does the school help students get involved in community volunteer efforts? Citizenship also is reflected in the caliber of campus politics. How do students register a genuine voice in the school's governance? A college shouldn't be parochial in its vision. Are there programs that enable students to look beyond the campus through, say, an internship, a job related to their studies or a semester abroad? Speak to graduates who can manage to be objective about their alma mater. Do they see a vital, sustaining connection between what they learned on campus and how they live now?