D.C. area ranks No. 4 on list of best college cities

WASHINGTON - Real estate agents always stress "location, location, location." Now a report on choosing the right college says location should be an important part of the equation.

The D.C. metro area -- home to at least 140,000 college students -- ranks No. 4 on the list of best places to go to college, according to the 2009-10 College Destinations Index put out by the American Institute for Economic Research.

The institute analyzes the 75 best places in the U.S. for college study, and bases its ranking not only on academics, but also on quality of life and professional opportunities.

Here are the rankings of the top 15 major metropolitan cities:

1. New York
2. San Francisco
3. Boston
4. D.C.
5. Seattle
6. Los Angeles
7. Baltimore
8. San Diego
9. Minneapolis-St. Paul
10. Miami
11. Philadelphia
12. Chicago
13. Phoenix
14. Houston
15. Atlanta

Among mid-size cities, San Jose, Calif., Austin, Texas and Hartford, Conn. rank as the top three. Richmond ranks 12th.

Boulder, Colo., Bridgeport, Conn. and Ann Arbor, Mich. are the top small metro areas in the index.

When it comes to college towns, Ithaca, N.Y., State College, Pa. and Ames, Iowa are the top ranking towns. Charlottesville, Va. comes in No. 6 on the college town list, while Blacksburg, Va. ranks 17th.

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