VIRGINIA BEACH — Virginia Beach may be known as a beautiful resort city with miles of outstanding coastline for pleasure seekers of all ages, but it’s apparently not winning any favor with college students struggling to find a supportive environment.
So says the personal-finance website WalletHub, which on Tuesday released its report on 2018’s Best & Worst College Towns & Cities in America, as a follow-up to its College & University Rankings.
In the report, Virginia Beach ranked 10th Worst Large College City in America, when compared to more than 400 U.S. cities – grouped by city size – based on 28 key indicators of academic, social and economic growth potential.
The company said the data set ranges from cost of living to quality of higher education to crime rate.
WalletHub said the report aims to help college-bound high school seniors determine their future home for the next several years.
How Virginia Beach stacked up in Student-Friendliness (1=Best; 208=Avg.):
- 279th – Cost of Living for Young People
- 269th – Quality of Higher Education
- 149th – Cost of Higher Education
- 96th – Nightlife Options per Capita
- 357th – Percent of Part-Time Jobs
- 205th – Brain Drain
- 308th – City Accessibility
- 70th – Crime Rate
- 367th – Percent of Rental Units
- 255th – Students per Capita
There are almost two dozen public, private and independent colleges and technical schools in the Virginia Beach area.
On the report by large city size, Austin, Texas was ranked as the best college town, and Detroit, Michigan as the worst.
Among the unfavorable mid-sized cities for students nearby, Newport News was ranked 62nd, Chesapeake at 23rd, Norfolk ranked 10th, and Hampton came in as the 8th worst in the country.
To see the full list, visit WalletHub’s website.
Think Virginia Beach should be ranked higher or lower? Weigh in in the comments below:
Send news tips to news@wydaily.com
