The American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) has placed Champaign-Urbana #6 on its list of “75 Best College Towns and Cities for 2012–2013.” Pretty neat. Here’s how they described the selection in the article (which you can read here):
The “college experience” is about more than simply attending a top-notch university. The city or town where the school is located also is important, the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) suggests in its 2012-2013 “AIER College Destinations Index” (AIER CDI).
The AIER CDI includes the top 75 towns and cities in the United States for college students, based on a larger evaluation of the 227 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) with student populations of 15,000 or more.
These lists come out from time to time, ranking one thing against another. You know how it goes. Sometimes you know they are full of shit; other times, they could be legitimate. So take that for what it’s worth. More information on how the cities are selected is within the article linked above.
The top 75 college destinations — grouped by total residential populations — are listed below:
