Looking for a Job? Try a College Town

Amid troubling economic times and a national unemployment rate of 8.5%, perhaps it's time to go back to college — at least a college town.

Of 10 metropolitan areas with unemployment below 4% as of January, five of them are considered college towns. One is Morgantown, home of the West Virginia Mountaineers, where the unemployment rate is only 3.9%.

The university has about 260 job openings, according to Margaret Phillips, vice president of human relations at WVU. "We're hurting for people, especially to fill our computer and technical positions," she said.

Logan, home of Utah State Aggies, and Ames, home of the Iowa State Cyclones, have unemployment rates of 3.8%.

Two other college towns make the top 10. Iowa City, home of the Hawkeyes, has an unemployment rate of 4.1%. Manhattan, home to Kansas State, is at 4.2%.

Several reasons are given for the resiliency of college towns, including "communiversity," the current term for partnerships between universities and their home cities, such as joint economic development projects.

College towns also tend to have a highly skilled workforce.

"Apart from weather, human capital has been the best long-run predictor of urban success in the last century," Harvard economics professor Edward Glaeser said.

Thanks to Gary at Steroid Nation.