THE WORD-TO-THE-WISE STRATEGY INVOLVES A LIMITED SET OF DATA RELATED TO PREVIOUS PATTERNS OF CONSUMER ABUSE; IT PLACES WITH THE STUDENT ULTIMATE RESPONSIBILITY FOR HEEDING WARNINGS AND LEARNING TO DETECT CLUES OF MALPRACTICE. THE GOVERNMENT-MANDATED 'SUPPLY COMPARABLE FACTS' STRATEGY REQUIRES THAT INSTITUTIONS PROVIDE SPECIFIC DATA TO PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS BUT DOES NOT ENCOURAGE APPROPRIATE INTERPRETATION OF THESE DATA BY STUDENTS. A THIRD POSSIBLE APPROACH IS THE QUALITY-MONITORING STRATEGY, IN WHICH AN AGENCY ISSUES RELATIVELY COMPREHENSIVE JUDGMENTS OF EDUCATIONAL QUALITY BASED ON INDICATORS SUPPLIED BY INSTITUTIONS AND STUDENTS. THE COMPARABLE FACTS APPROACH, PROPERLY DESIGNED AND IMPLEMENTED, APPEARS TO BE MORE SUITABLE THAN THE OTHER STRATEGIES. THE FOLLOWING GUIDELINES FOR ESTABLISHING THE COMPARABLE FACTS APPROACH AS A VIABLE AID TO STUDENT CONSUMERS ARE SUGGESTED: (1) ALL PARTIES WITH A LEGITIMATE INTEREST SHOULD HELP TO DETERMINE WHICH INFORMATION ITEMS ARE TO BE PROVIDED; (2) COLLEGES PROVIDING DATA SHOULD HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ASSESS HOW THEIR DATA AFFECT STUDENT DECISIONMAKING; (3) DATA USED IN COMPARING COLLEGES SHOULD REST ON EXPLICITLY DEFINED TERMS AND A FRAMEWORK FOR CORRECT INTERPRETATION; (4) THESE DATA MUST BE USED IN A MANNER CONSISTENT WITH THE PURPOSES FOR WHICH THEY WERE COLLECTED; AND (5) THERE SHOULD BE GUARANTEES THAT DATA SUPPLIED TO ANY CENTRAL AGENCY WILL NOT BE USED FOR PURPOSES OTHER THAN PROVIDING INFORMATION TO STUDENTS. (LKM)