Smartest College Towns

Major Colleges: Harvard University and MIT
Total Population: 106,255

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 43%
Population that are students: 23%

Overall Grade: A

2009 Rank: 4th

Diego Lezama / Getty Images

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Major College: University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Total Population: 52,241

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 47%
Population that are students: 36%

Overall Grade: A

2009 Rank: 1st

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Major College: University of California Berkeley
Total Population: 100,877

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 37%
Population that are students: 29%

Overall Grade: A

2009 Rank: 5th

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Major College: University of Michigan
Total Population: 113,656

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 43%
Population that are students: 38%

Overall Grade: A

2009 Rank: 2nd

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Major Colleges: Cornell University and Ithaca College
Total Population: 29,821

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 34%
Population that are students: 59%

Overall Grade: A

2009 Rank: 11th

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Major College: Michigan State University
Total Population: 46,957

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 35%
Population that are students: 68%

Overall Grade: B

2009 Rank: 7th

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Major College: University of Colorado Boulder
Total Population: 98,737

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 34%
Population that are students: 32%

Overall Grade: B

2009 Rank: 3rd

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Major College: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Total Population: 35,971

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 43%
Population that are students: 59%

Overall Grade: B

2009 Rank: 10th

galleries/2009/12/05/smartest-college-towns/smartest-college-towns---state-college_zyaoac

Major College: Penn State University
Total Population: 39,602

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 38%
Population that are students: 72%

Overall Grade: B

2009 Rank: 8th

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Major College: University of Maryland College Park
Total Population: 27,202

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 23%
Population that are students: 56%

Overall Grade: B

2009 Rank: 19th

galleries/2009/12/05/smartest-college-towns/smartest-college-towns---champaign-urbana_jzvbbx

Major College: University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana
Total Population: 117,391

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 28%
Population that are students: 40%

Overall Grade: B

2009 Rank: 21st

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Major College: University of California Davis
Total Population: 61,866

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 38%
Population that are students: 36%

Overall Grade: B

2009 Rank: 14th

galleries/2009/12/05/smartest-college-towns/smartest-college-towns---madison_wxg0zk

Major College: University of Wisconsin Madison
Total Population: 229,051

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 23%
Population that are students: 23%

Overall Grade: B

2009 Rank: 6th

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Major College: University of Virginia
Total Population: 41,393

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 24%
Population that are students: 27%

Overall Grade: B

2009 Rank: 13th

galleries/2009/12/05/smartest-college-towns/iowa-state-university_guywem

Major College: Iowa State University
Total Population: 54,853

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 27%
Population that are students: 44%

Overall Grade: B

2009 Rank: 9th

galleries/2009/12/05/smartest-college-towns/smartest-college-towns---columbia_mqsvwk

Major College: University of Missouri Columbia
Total Population: 98,831

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 24%
Population that are students: 27%

Overall Grade: C

2009 Rank: 12th

galleries/2009/12/05/smartest-college-towns/smartest-college-towns---auburn_dn3ju6

Major College: Auburn University
Total Population: 55,439

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 28%
Population that are students: 43%

Overall Grade: C

2009 Rank: 18th

Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images

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Major College: Kent State University
Total Population: 27,951

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 17%
Population that are students: 45%

Overall Grade: C

2009 Rank: 24th

Tony Dejak / AP Photo

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Major College: University of Florida
Total Population: 115,146

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 22%
Population that are students: 39%

Overall Grade: C

2009 Rank: 17th

galleries/2009/12/05/smartest-college-towns/smartest-college-towns---norman_wu86wb

Major College: University of Oklahoma Norman
Total Population: 105,870

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 18%
Population that are students: 23%

Overall Grade: C

2009 Rank: 22nd

Wesley Hitt / Getty Images

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Major College: Texas A&M
Total Population: 80,972

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 28%
Population that are students: 49%

Overall Grade: D

2009 Rank: 16th

Wesley Hitt / Getty Images

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Major College: Oregon State
Total Population: 50,800

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 28%
Population that are students: 34%

Overall Grade: D

2009 Rank: 15th

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Major College: University of Georgia
Total Population: 111,814

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 20%
Population that are students: 31%

Overall Grade: D

2009 Rank: 25th

Mary Knox Merrill / Getty Images

galleries/2009/12/05/smartest-college-towns/smartest-college-towns---lawrence_vrw1af

Major College: University of Kansas
Total Population: 90,028

Population with graduate degrees or higher: 24%
Population that are students: 32%

Overall Grade: D

2009 Rank: 20th

Smartest College Towns

The Daily Beast crunched the numbers to determine the smartest college town in America.