Home to two universities, Boulder No. 1 college destination

Boulder topped the American Institute for Economic Research’s 2010-2011 College Destinations Index, a quantitative ranking of the 75 best towns and cities to live in if you’re a college student, for small cities with populations between 250,000 and 1 million. Boulder is home to the University of Colorado as well as Naropa University.

AIER chose the locations from an analysis of the 222 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) with college student populations of 15,000 or more based on data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Science Foundation.

Fort Collins, home to Colorado State University, came in at No. 10 while Denver came in 12th on the list of major metros with populations greater than 2.5 million. San Francisco took the top slot on that list. Denver boasts of University of Colorado Denver, University of Denver, Regis University, Colorado School of Mines, Metropolitan State College of Denver, and several community colleges and for-profit schools.

The CDI analyzes the areas in which the schools are located, including the overall academic environment, quality of life, such as cost of living and arts and leisure activities, and professional opportunities, according to AIER.

“Deciding what school to attend should involve more than what the school itself has to offer,” says Keming Liang, AIER’s lead researcher on the project. “Where to attend college is just as important, because like the colleges themselves, the towns and cities in which they are located vary widely in the opportunities they offer students and recent graduates.”

Among the criterion AIER used to rank college cities:

• Student Concentration: number of college students per 1,000 residents

• Student Diversity: percentage of all students holding foreign passports

• Research Capacity: academic R&D expenditures per capita

• Degree Attainment: percent of the 25-34 year old population with college degrees

• Cost of Living: based upon average rent for a 2-bedroom apartment

• Arts and Leisure: number of cultural and entertainment venues per 100,000 residents

• City Accessibility: percentage of workers over age 16 who commute on foot or by public transportation or bicycle

• Creative Class: percentage of residents working 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 residents

• Brain Gain/Drain: year-over-year ratio of college-educated population living in the area

• Unemployment rate.

Here’s a look at the top 10 College Destination Index cities: