Top 10 Best College Towns 2013 Rankings
Which College made it to the Best College Towns 2013 rankings issued by the American Institute of Economic Research? The “AIER College Destinations Index,” or AIER CDI collected data from the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, National Science Foundation and Small Business Administration to create the rankings based on the following criteria:
- Student Concentration: number of college students per 1,000 population
- Student Diversity: percentage of student body that are non-U.S. residents
- Research Capacity: academic R&D expenditures per capita
- Degree Attainment: percent of the 25-to-34-year-old population with bachelor’s degree or higher
- Cost of Living: based upon average rent for a 2-bedroom apartment
- Arts and Leisure: number of cultural and entertainment venues per 100,000 population
- City Accessibility: percentage of workers over age 16 who commute on foot or by public transportation or bicycle
- Creative Class: percentage of workforce in the arts, education, knowledge industries, science and engineering, management and other fields
- Earning Potential: income per capita
- Entrepreneurial Activity: net annual increase in total number of business establishments per 100,000 population
- Brain Gain/Drain: year-over-year ratio of population with B.A. degree (it is only population with B.A degree, not all the college level) living in the area
- Unemployment rate
1. Ithaca, N.Y. – Cornell University and Ithaca College
2. Ames, Iowa – Iowa State University
3. State College, Pa. – Penn State
4. Iowa City, Iowa – University of Iowa
5. Corvallis, Ore. – Oregon State University
6. Champaign-Urbana, Ill. – University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana
7. Lafayette, Ind. – Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Harrison College and Purdue University
8. Lawrence, Kan. – The University of Kansas
9. Morgantown, W.Va. – West Virginia University
10. Columbia, Mo. – The University of Missouri