Does Toronto have the same magnetic pull among Canadians that NYC has for Americans?

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Another thing is that contrary to the US, I believe all of Canada's major universities (including all of the "comprehensive") are located in the biggest cities.

So you don't have as many Canadian students who get their degree from a university in a smaller city, and then have to move on from there and have to decide which big metro they're going to try and build their career in.

Basically, in Canada you're often going to study in the city where you will have your career.

The universities are major drivers in the growth of young professional populations in all of our metro areas.

Typically in Canada the place you study is the place you will settle down in.

Obviously that's not 100%, and of course it's not unheard of at all in the US for people to do this as well.

But it's way more common in Canada.

Interesting. I think it's the exception in the U.S. - for bachelors degrees and up at least - to start your career in the same town, city, or metro area where you went to university. Anecdotally it seems like the massive exception.

[Crawford]

The U.S. is unique in that many (perhaps most) major universities aren't in the biggest cities. And there are tons of universities and small colleges in the middle of nowhere. In basically every other country, the biggest cities have the biggest and most selective universities. You don't even have to know the universities, you can reliably guess that the biggest and best Korean universities are in Seoul, the biggest and best Mexican universities are in DF, etc.

For selective universities, I do believe undergrads can go basically anywhere. More regional universities will have a more local draw. A University of Michigan grad can likely find prospects in NYC or LA. A Central Michigan University grad will have to work a little harder to find employment out-of-state, where its recognition & alumni network is likely sparse.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Crawford

The U.S. is unique in that many (perhaps most) major universities aren't in the biggest cities.

A lot of that has to do with many states very consciously and intentionally electing NOT to put their flagship public university in "the big bad corrupting city".

Maybe it's an anglosphere thing we adopted from the Brits (ie. Oxbridge not being in London)?


Still, US cities do pretty well with major universities. Of the top 25 universities as ranked by US News (I know, I know, just go with it), 17 of them are either in major cities, or in close-in burbs in the case of a few like Harvard, Northwestern, Cal Tech, etc.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

A lot of that has to do with many states very consciously and intentionally electing NOT to put their flagship public university in "the big bad corrupting city".

Maybe it's an anglosphere thing we adopted from the Brits (ie. Oxbridge not being in London)?


Still, US cities do pretty well with major universities. Of the top 25 universities as ranked by US News (I know, I know, just go with it), 17 of them are either in major cities, or in close-burbs in the case of a few like Harvard, Northwestern, Cal Tech, etc.

Well, you have many universities and many big cities.

But the US university field certainly isn't dominated by big cities like it is in Canada.

[iheartthed]

Gotta push back on the idea that U.S. schools are overwhelmingly rural. Over 84% of schools ranked in the top 30 by US News are located in a CSA of more than 1 million (27 of 32 schools). Over 81% of them are in metro areas of 1 million (Duke, Michigan, and North Carolina are the only schools in a +1m CSA and not in the core MSA). And nearly half of them are located in the primary city of the CSA (15 of 32... 17 if you count Cambridge). Only Cornell and Dartmouth are located more than 100 miles from a major city.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Gotta push back on the idea that U.S. schools are overwhelmingly rural. Over 84% of schools ranked in the top 30 by US News are located in a CSA of more than 1 million (27 of 32 schools). Over 81% of them are in metro areas of 1 million (Duke, Michigan, and North Carolina are the only schools in a +1m CSA and not in the core MSA). And nearly half of them are located in the primary city of the CSA (15 of 32... 17 if you count Cambridge). Only Cornell and Dartmouth are located more than 100 miles from a major city.

They're not rural. But they're often in places like Ann Arbor, South Bend, New Haven, etc.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Acajack

They're not rural. But they're often in places like Ann Arbor, South Bend, New Haven, etc.

But they're all very close to major cities... Also Chicago and New York pull overwhelmingly from Notre Dame and Yale, respectively. The reason Detroit doesn't pull as much from the University of Michigan has nothing to do with the school being in Ann Arbor, IMO. Carnegie Mellon also disperses students across the country after they graduate, and CMU is located in the middle of Pittsburgh.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Acajack

They're not rural. But they're often in places like Ann Arbor, South Bend, New Haven, etc.

Among the most elite universities, they actually usually aren't found in such places.

Top 25 universities by location type:

Major city/inner burb: 17
Major metro satellite: 5 (Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Duke Michigan)
Middle of nowhere: 4 (Dartmouth, Cornell, Notre Dame, UVA)

(26 total schools due to a tie for 25th)