With an ever-changing face of a young, energetic student body, college towns cater to their own individual tastes and style.  Six of the best higher education atmospheres have been given attention predominantly because of career opportunities, outside of school activities, community life, and unique cultural atmospheres.

With over 250,000 college students flooding the city every fall, historical Boston hands down wins a spot in the top atmospheres for college students. There is never a dull moment in the city, and you’ll constantly find yourself surrounded with students from over 60 different colleges from Boston and surrounding areas.  To name a couple, Cambridge and Medford feed the city with a livening energy.  Not only are there ample theaters, museums, parks, and cultural hotspots– like the Freedom Trail and Little Italy in the North End– but Boston’s career oriented opportunities dominate engaged student’s interests in post-college job intrigues. Employers actively search for students who are prepared and excited to gain real world experience even before they graduate college.

No other city can beat the California Bay area’s perfect weather with a little fog around the edges.  As one of America’s hubs for two of the top ten universities in the country, the bay area is home to UC- Berkeley and Stanford University, notorious for their unparalleled rivalry and lauded for their outstanding contributions as top research universities.  According to some studies,  San Francisco outranked New York City, Washington D.C., and even Boston as the number one college town.  Its ”diversity, arts and leisure, research capacity, and entrepreneurial activity,” according to University of San Francisco, is unrivaled.

Ann Arbor, Michigan centers around University of Michigan’s captivating football games and employment opportunities.  Major employers such as Google, AdWords, and Toyota– as “tech and science jobs are on the rise,” the town makes an ideal place for innovative students to exploit their originality.  The Environmental Protection Agency offers plenty of research opportunities.  When football is not in season, however, there is no shortage of livability, with 60,000 students that spark the town into life.

Our colorful Colorado has been dubbed home to two of America’s best college towns:  Fort Collins (CSU) and Boulder (University of Colorado).  Graduates look forward to “numerous science institutes, local artisanal movements, and tech companies [that] call Boulder home…  Notable employers include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations, the Geological Society of America, and the Space Science Institute.”  Without countless hiking trails and opportune outdoor oriented environmental activities, our 300 days of sunshine would be utterly wasted.

Along with being home to Indiana University– “often named one of the most beautiful campuses in the nation”– Bloomington, Indiana truly blooms with copious green trees scattered through the entire town.  Its business-oriented career fields dominate the post-college scene; Forbes magazine ranked Bloomington No. 3 for the “Best Places for Business Careers.”  With local restaurants, festivals, and outdoor activities, the town has an authentic college-life feel.

Ranked No. 3 by Best College Reviews — based on “livability, student-to-resident ratio, cultural offerings, school presence, and large employers”– Madison, Wisconsin has a perfect college setting, surrounded geographically by two lakes as well as rolling hills, and mottled with large employers, namely Google, Alliant Energy, and Microsoft.  The city’s “outdoor charm” is complemented by the University of Madison Arboretum, along with myriad hiking trails, fishing spots, and boating opportunities.

Whether on the coast of California, hidden in a perfect, landlocked town in the Midwest, or admiring the Boston skyline from your dorm window, college towns are unparalleled in bolstering up their student residents.  Few fall short of pleasing dedicated learners, as these hip hubs for higher education are the prime places to make life-long friends and to stride into adulthood.