Which College Cities Are Tops?

Pennlive: "A Pennsylvanian city has been named as one of the top college places in the U.S. However, it’s not the home of Penn State University, State College. According to a new study conducted and published by WalletHub, when ranked by size, Pittsburgh is the fifth best large city to attend college in. The other top five largest cities are Tampa, Fl. (fourth); Seattle, Wash. (third); Raleigh, N.C. (second); and Austin, Texas (first). State College comes in ranked 89th overall. According to the study, it has the 20th best 'social environment,' but ranks 359th out of 415 cities for “academic and economic opportunities.”

"The top five college towns and cities in the nation regardless of size would be Ithaca, N.Y (fifth); Irvine, Calif. (fourth); Provo, Utah (third); Austin, Texas (second); and Ann Arbor, Mich. (first). And the college towns and cities you should avoid? Those would be Kendall, Fl. (number 411); Montgomery, Ala. (number 412); Hialeh, Fl. (number 413); Bridgeport, Conn. (number 414); and Miami Gardens, Fl. (number 415)."

"In order to come to these conclusions, WalletHub assessed the following three key categories to see where each town or city fell on the list: 'Wallet Friendliness;' 'Social Environment;' and 'Academic & Economic Opportunities.' From there, WalletHub weighted each category’s relevant metrics (such as housing costs) to find out which area would be the most attractive to burgeoning minds."