For high school students who can, visiting a college campus is the best way to get a sense of the place where they'll be spending the next four years.

But for those who can't visit, or who are just beginning their search, there's now a Web site called YOUniversityTV, offering virtual tours of about 400 colleges and universities.

The Web site offers videos of four-year institutions all over the United States. The quick and breezy videos show landmarks, introduce students and faculty, and describe some course offerings and local attractions.

Colleges and universities neither pay nor are paid to have their videos included. The tours are filmed and produced by YOUniversityTV itself, said spokeswoman Kathleen Rojas.

A few big names are missing at this point, such as Georgetown, Brown, Wellesley, Harvard, and Yale. Rojas said YOUniversityTV hopes to add another 100 as schedules for the campuses and the Web site's crews permit.

www.youniversitytv.com

- Anne Wallace Allen, AP