The Best Cities and Towns for College

The American Institute of Economic Research ranks the best cities and towns in which to attend college, using academic achievement, quality of life, and professional opportunities as factors.

1 minute read

September 8, 2010, 11:00 AM PDT

By Tim Halbur


Ithaca, New York tops the list for top college towns under 250,000, and San Francisco is tops for major metropolitan areas.

Kerry Lynch, a senior fellow at the Institute, is quoted by USA Today about the importance of location in college choice:

"Most students and their parents think about location in a vague way. They have a general impression of locales, but they don't have much solid information, and it's hard to compare one to another. And that's what we're trying to do - so they can get a picture of that," Lynch says.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010 in USA Today

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

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