Atlanta is now the premier city in Georgia for college goers based on WalletHub’s 2015 report.
Atlanta was named the number one college town and out-ranked Athens, the home of the University of Georgia, which ranked number 16. The report evaluated 326 cities in the U.S. on several categories, and Atlanta received high marks in most categories, such as quality in education and variety of nightlife.
Kandarp Shah, a junior at Georgia State, said he believes Atlanta offers students valuable opportunities.
“With a variety of parks, many theaters, and home to good sports teams, it can make any student feel home,” Shah said. “I like the fact that everything in Atlanta is not too far. You can take the MARTA, street car or a cheap Uber ride almost anywhere around Atlanta.”
Caleb Beaver, a senior at Georgia State, also agreed with the rankings, citing the number of colleges and events in the city.
“You have festivals, community events,” he said. “You have a very active young community in Atlanta. That’s hard to find in other towns.”
According to the report, Atlanta ranked number seven overall for the best college town, and number one overall for having the best college nightlife.
In quality of life, Atlanta ranked 12 overall. It also ranked 19 in Brain Drain, 24 in Student Gender Balance, 56 in City Accessibility, 65 in Number of Students Per Capita and 160th in Cost of Higher Education, according to the report.
Misty McDonald, Georgia State’s assistant dean of students, said the university also contributes to student life through Panther Prowls, movies, concerts, speakers, programs, organization fairs, fraternities and sororities and sporting events.
“There are a variety of programs that are offered by numerous campus departments,” she said.
