In 2013, the Association has shared to the American public US colleges’ rankings in the State of SC and in any other states in the US which can be used by college administrations or even the State representatives to take necessary steps to revitalize their institutions.  Recently, we learned what has happened in the State of South Carolina.  Its colleges have faced severe financial challenges, perhaps more than in any other higher ed institutions in the US.  We, at the Association have known that this is coming and it is a matter of time before its pops.  This is just a friendly reminder how important the research-based strategic information that the Association has done and shared to the public.  Strategic decisions need to be made by data-driven, and not data-informed. The old-way i.e., data-informed only tell/present data to inform the decision makers, with or without taken any actions.  Data-driven decision making processes rely on making or taking strategic decisions/actions, based on the application of Education Analytics (IRI) on institutional historical data captured through various internal data bases, such as Banner, Ellucian, PeopleSoft….etc. Other Colleges may need to check the Association’s rankings and see where they are, and what strategic actions need to be done before it is too late.  The old ways of publishing College’s rankings by various organizations will not tell most US colleges their real situations.  In other words, it is a kind of ceremonial sugar coated information which is less useful for making the institutions more cost-competitive, driving lower tuition and beneficial to the students.  It may, at some point be used by potential international applicants.  However, recent research results show that most domestic applicants make their decisions based on how much out-of-pocket expenses that their need to pay.