The 10 Best College Towns: Princeton Review List

College towns can be an important part of the college experience. There is nothing better than being able to walk outside of the ivory tower and expand your horizons in a new city.

The Princeton Review recently named the 10 schools with the best college towns in the country. Columbia University topped the list (What is better than the Big Apple?) with DC's Georgetown coming in second.

Check out our slide show of the best college towns in the country. Then tell us, do you think college towns are important? Weigh in below!

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Comments

[EloquentAsNothing]

01:20 PM on 02/11/2012

Barnard and Columbia are quite literally across the street from each other - in fact, Barnard is technically one of the four undergraduate institutions at Columbia University (hence "Barnard College of Columbia University," as written on the gates) - and yet somehow Columbia is #1 and Barnard is #7? Hm.

[Court1]

05:26 PM on 01/31/2012

I couldn't agree more! This list of cities boast wonderful job opportunities for the students graduating from these fine universities. And, these large cities (also holding the title as college towns to prestigious universities) offer wonderful resources to help broaden the students education, whether it be at renowned museums, national landmarks or internships with top companies. Not to mention, there is a lot of fun to be had in a big city...

[Exfl]

10:30 PM on 01/30/2012

Obviously the people at the Princeton Review have absolutely no clue what constitutes a "college town". College towns are places like Chapel Hill, Boulder, Gainesville, Athens, Clemson, Ann Arbor, Urbana, West Lafayette, Blacksburg, etc. where the ambience of the community is driven by campus life. The fact that a huge city has a university does not make it a "college town"

[rockshock]

07:12 PM on 01/30/2012

The joke of this article is to make any of the lists. Washington DC and New York City no doubt the worst towns in the world to live, except Rome, London, and Paris, except for the very, very, rich. The dorms at GW and Georgetown not luxe at all. Why not take a random look at dorm rooms at universities on the list. Will the mayor of DC hurry and rush to make sure there is free maid service for undergrads at Georgetown, George Washington, and OF COURSE HOWARD, and you have to be a fastidious white male, who is HIV positive, living in DC on retrovirals, and a willing maid. I did get the underlying fascist hardie har. What exclusive group DO YOU BELONG TO??? Beyond a barf.

[nskonberg]

03:44 PM on 01/31/2012

you do realize this is about the city, not the dorms. I live in Washington DC and it has been the best of both worlds. georgetown has everything and is close to the inner city, beautiful parks, and monuments

[Cody Brownell]

09:22 AM on 01/30/2012

Columbus, OH. Go Buckeyes.

[TexasHomes2000]

05:42 PM on 01/29/2012

oh come on. Austin, The University of Texas.

[TexasHomes2000]

05:41 PM on 01/29/2012

smu in Dallas, texas? lol smu is only for rich kids to get out of going to reform school

[TrippleJen]

04:01 PM on 01/30/2012

As someone who actually goes to SMU, I can say with certainty that you are wrong. While almost everyone is rich, they've grown up all their life with world-class educations. 10% are lazy and entitled, the other 90% are brilliant.

[Stephen Kicks]

01:40 AM on 01/31/2012

I also go to SMU, and I have to disagree. 4 years here has led me to believe most people here aren't as brilliant as you claim. I lived down the hall from a girl who was whining to her mom on the phone to take the family jet home for a hair appointment... one of many things I have heard and/or witnessed.

[CCR4]

09:02 AM on 01/31/2012

That's not true. But regardless, what does that have to do with Dallas being a great college town?

[McCloudLogger]

04:14 PM on 01/29/2012

What happened to Chico, CA? A few years ago it was rated the Best College Town (for partying) by Playboy Magazine. Go Wildcats.

[itsasherry]

01:32 PM on 01/29/2012

The title of this article should be the top 10 College Cities - not towns. Another great college town/city that was left off the list is Richmond, Virginia - home of VCU, MCV, University of Richmond and Virginia State - now that is a college town!

[redhead816]

07:50 PM on 01/28/2012

Flagler College in St. Augustine, FL is another great, great college town.

[dbdel]

04:51 PM on 01/25/2012

The headline refers to "Best College Towns" -- if that's the case, why mention only a college or two in each town/city? The HuffPost item even states: "The Princeton Review recently named the 10 schools with the best college towns in the country."

If the towns are the focus, why not mention all of the colleges and universities in each town/city? NYC, Boston, Minneapolis-St. Paul certainly have many schools. Why ignore those with smaller student populations or lesser reputations?

[Avatar77]

04:10 PM on 01/25/2012

What a steaming piece of crap this list is. Last I checked, NYC and Washington were not "towns" by any definition. And Dallas?!? Really?!? A college town is a small city that is dominated by the university based there. Oxford, Mississippi; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Boulder, CO; etc.. those are "college towns."

[SteveW57]

07:52 PM on 01/24/2012

Complete BS. A great college town is a town that is or seems built around supporting the college, but is still large enough to have fun things to do. Ann Arbor; Lawrence; Champaign/Urbana; Athens; Norman; Boulder; Palo Alto.

[Spartan112]

10:53 AM on 01/26/2012

East Lansing.

[k2okeefe]

05:59 AM on 01/24/2012

Have to way in on Gainesville, Florida -- University of FL. AMAZING college town! Huge university, but doesn't feel like it because of the town around it

[k2okeefe]

04:32 PM on 01/25/2012

Haha -- didn't go to UF just know it's a great school, and that Gainesville is a wonderful city.

[Emily Blue]

11:10 PM on 01/23/2012

Putting three New York Schools and three DC schools seems a bit redundant... and even if you were talking about parts of new york, both Columbia and Barnard? Really? I love these cities, but how many times do they need to make the list?

[jodydem]

05:38 AM on 01/24/2012

I was going to say Pittsburgh PA but didn't know which college or uni to choose, Uni. of Pitsburgh, Duquesne, Carlow, CaRNEGIE mELLON, Chatham, Robert Morris