This North Carolina city is among the top college towns in the US, report says
North Carolina is home to one of the nation’s top college towns, a new study finds.
Raleigh ranks No. 6 in a study of social activities and other offerings that make cities attractive to students pursuing higher education, according to results published Tuesday from WalletHub.
To come up with its findings, the personal finance website says it examined 415 U.S. cities with college student populations that topped 7,500. After analyzing data from the federal government and other sources, each city received scores for student-friendly attractions, affordability and education opportunities.
Raleigh is home to several higher learning institutions, including Meredith College, N.C. State University, Shaw University, St. Augustine’s University and William Peace University.
Raleigh earned among the highest scores for its local environment, which examined the number of students and college-aged residents living in the city. The category also examined entertainment activities, including the presence of college sports teams, breweries and food trucks, results show.
Among all cities, Raleigh ranked No. 78 for job and education opportunities, a category that weighed the quality of schooling, unemployment rates, income and other factors. Also on the list, Raleigh was about average for costs of living, according to WalletHub.
It’s not the first time Raleigh has received national recognition on a list that examined higher education. In July, the city was named one of the “most educated cities” in the country, McClatchy News previously reported.
But the city didn’t fare too well in another recent report. In March, Raleigh ranked among the worst places for college basketball fans, landing a 213th spot out of 289 cities, according to results from WalletHub.
North Carolina is a state with deep-rooted college sports rivalries, so how did other towns rank on the national list? The results may surprise you.
WalletHub lists Chapel Hill at No. 17; Wilmington at No. 43; Durham at No. 44; Asheville at No. 54; Charlotte at No. 79; Boone at No. 80; Greenville at No. 240; Greensboro at No. 274; Winston-Salem at No. 288; Fayetteville at No. 347; High Point at No. 385. Also just outside of Raleigh and near several college campuses, the town of Cary ranked No. 19.
Overall, the top U.S. city for college students was Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan, followed by Austin, Texas, home to the University of Texas. Rounding out the top five were Provo, Utah; Irvine, California; and Ithaca, New York.
The lowest-ranking place was Miami Gardens, Florida, results show.
This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 4:02 PM with the headline "This North Carolina city is among the top college towns in the US, report says."
