College Destinations Index

Rochester has the bones, resources, and intelligence to be like Austin, Texas, and Portland, Oregon.  As of this moment, however, the general perception of Rochester is nowhere near that of these trendier, younger cities.  Why? Largely, if not solely, due to the lack of a truly vibrant downtown.  While downtown is improving and can come alive during certain festivals, it still pales in comparison to the demands of today's young, educated workforce.  Because Rochester does not have this curb appeal, Rochesterians (such as myself) have to resort to data-driven analysis to prove why the region is top-shelf.  One day (hopefully soon), when Rochester's downtown renaissance is complete, sites like this one will be unnecessary.

In the meantime, here is yet more data showing the company that Rochester keeps (at least statistically.)  The American Institute for Economic Research recently published its College Destinations Index.  The premise behind the research was that the quality of a college education is strongly fortified by the community in which it is received.  In order to identify the best college destinations, metro areas were subjected to 12 measures, namely student concentration, housing costs, city accessibility, arts and leisure, percentage of international students, percentage of workforce in innovation fields, unemployment rate, entrepreneurial activity, brain drain or gain, R & D per student, educational attainment, and earning potential.

Of 271 metro areas with at least 10,000 students, the Top 75 college destinations were determined (15 large metros, 20 mid-size metros, 20 small metros, and 20 college towns).  Among the 20 mid-size metros, here is the ranking:

1. San Jose, CA
2. Austin, TX
3. Raleigh, NC
4. Pittsburgh, PA
5. Buffalo, NY
6. Rochester, NY
7. Nashville, TN
8. Columbus, OH
9. Hartford, CT
10. Salt Lake City, UT
11. Portland, OR
12. Milwaukee, WI
13. New Orleans, LA
14. Oklahoma City, OK
15. Indianapolis, IN
16. Richmond, VA
17. Providence, RI
18. Cleveland, OH
19. Sacramento, CA
20. Cincinnati, OH

Here is a link to the complete listing of all 75 metro areas.  It is noteworthy that New York, particularly Upstate, is very well represented.