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No arguing the Boston area as the undisputed king of higher education. But who qualifies for second? For sakes of this thread, if a major school is just outside of a metro, we can count it (as is often the case).
Some candidates:
Raleigh-Durham: The famous research triangle, home to the largest research park in the world. Home to Duke, NC State and UNC. Almost feels like the another version of Boston.
Bay Area - The big tech capital of the world is this partly due to its education. Stanford University is colloquially grouped with Silicon Valley for a reason. Then let's not forget about Berkeley and Santa Clara. And of course if those aren't enough, Bay Area is one of the medical and biosciences capitals of the nation.
LA - As great as LA is, it's underrated in my opinion, as we usually think of SF-SJ as the education capital of Cali. Not that it isn't, but Los Angeles has a lot to say about that. LA probably has the best balance of top tier public and private schools alike. UCLA, USC and CalTech? That trio itself says enough. The fact UC Irvine is an afterthought speaks on how great those are.
Philadelphia - This one also seems to be underrated. Not sure why. UPenn, Villanova, Carnegie, it has elite schools established. But one thing Philly has better than other cities with education scenes of its caliber is that it has an amazing non-elite school scene as well. This gives it additional points.
Chicago - U Chicago and Northwestern are the kings here. But it's depth isn't bad at all either. Loyola, UIC and DePaul are great in their own right.
Atlanta - Not quite as high as those above, but worth mentioning. Georgia Tech and Emory make a great duo. UG isn't too far away. But it lacks the depth as those above.
Houston - Almost didn't want to mention Houston, who's only elite is Rice (though Rice alone says a lot). But that's not why it's to be mentioned. Which is the Texas Medical Center, having some of the best medical schools in the nation (Baylor, UTH, etc) along with the largest cancer research center and a recent biotech push.
Many other cities such as Miami, Austin, Seattle either lack depth or aren't quite as top tier, but let me know who I missed.
Note: Remember, I said metro. Not specifically MSA. So while there are different opinion of what's the best definition of a metropolitan area, think of overall region such as Palo Alto to SF.
No arguing the Boston area as the undisputed king of higher education. But who qualifies for second? For sakes of this thread, if a major school is just outside of a metro, we can count it (as is often the case).
Some candidates:
Raleigh-Durham: The famous research triangle, home to the largest research park in the world. Home to Duke, NC State and UNC. Almost feels like the another version of Boston.
Bay Area - The big tech capital of the world is this partly due to its education. Stanford University is colloquially grouped with Silicon Valley for a reason. Then let's not forget about Berkeley and Santa Clara. And of course if those aren't enough, Bay Area is one of the medical and biosciences capitals of the nation.
LA - As great as LA is, it's underrated in my opinion, as we usually think of SF-SJ as the education capital of Cali. Not that it isn't, but Los Angeles has a lot to say about that. LA probably has the best balance of top tier public and private schools alike. UCLA, USC and CalTech? That trio itself says enough. The fact UC Irvine is an afterthought speaks on how great those are.
Philadelphia - This one also seems to be underrated. Not sure why. UPenn, Villanova, Carnegie, it has elite schools established. But one thing Philly has better than other cities with education scenes of its caliber is that it has an amazing non-elite school scene as well. This gives it additional points.
Chicago - U Chicago and Northwestern are the kings here. But it's depth isn't bad at all either. Loyola, UIC and DePaul are great in their own right.
Atlanta - Not quite as high as those above, but worth mentioning. Georgia Tech and Emory make a great duo. UG isn't too far away. But it lacks the depth as those above.
Houston - Almost didn't want to mention Houston, who's only elite is Rice (though Rice alone says a lot). But that's not why it's to be mentioned. Which is the Texas Medical Center, having some of the best medical schools in the nation (Baylor, UTH, etc) along with the largest cancer research center and a recent biotech push.
Many other cities such as Miami, Austin, Seattle either lack depth or aren't quite as top tier, but let me know who I missed.
Note: Remember, I said metro. Not specifically MSA. So while there are different opinion of what's the best definition of a metropolitan area, think of overall region such as Palo Alto to SF.
Out of the choices, Los Angeles. Strange to see an option for Nashville but not Pittsburgh
I dont know. I would say NY or DC or possibly Philadelphia? Not just universities, but academic and intellectual communities, organizations, institutions, etc. The Bay Area is probably up there too but I think we can give credit where it's due in this regard.
Honestly after i submitted this I realized LA has all the P schools there, UCLA, Harvey Mudd, etc
Id actually make it
1. Boston
2. SF
3. LA
4. Chicago
5. NYC
5. Raleigh
Rather odd to leave Philadelphia off this list. The amount of educational institutions (many notable), and widespread higher education community gives Philadelphia a place on the podium. Philadelphia is also #2 (after Boston) for the most and best liberal arts colleges.
Overall, I would rank the Philadelphia area in the top 5 easily.
Last edited by cpomp; 11-21-2020 at 01:25 PM..
Reason: edit
It's probably NYC and LA with this being dependent on whether the CSA is included. If it's by MSA, then they're on overall pretty even footing, but if it's by CSA, then it throws in many more notable higher education institutions for NYC. After that comes Chicago, the Bay Area (CSA), and Philadelphia. Then Pittsburgh, the Research Triangle (CSA), and Atlanta.
The DC-Baltimore CSA isn't very cohesive as an entity, but if considered as one and going by CSAs, then it'd be right ahead of Pittsburgh.
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