Recent Survey Says NH is One of the Worst Places to be a College Student
We have some awesome universities in the Granite state! Back when I was looking at schools, I was very close to attending UNH but since I was a Massachusetts resident, UMASS Amherst made more sense for me. Keene State, Plymouth State and Dartmouth College are also great and reputable schools. These schools are nestled in some of the most quaint college towns. Plus the cost of living in New Hampshire is more affordable than many other popular college destinations like New York City for example! So why, in a recent survey, did New Hampshire rank one of the worst places to be a college student in the country? Doesn't make sense to me! Let's unpack this, shall we?
According to New Hampshire Business Review, the study evaluated all 50 states on a variety of factors including the cost of tuition fees, rent, board, the percentage of the population made up of 19-to-25-year olds, average salary, crime rates, happiness index scores, weather and the number of top universities in each state. New Hampshire came in 48th out of 50! That's horrendous! The only states that did worse were West Virginia and Vermont. Womp Womp.
I guess when it comes to weather and happiness, New Hampshire isn't going to win in those categories. I enjoy four seasons but there is a correlation between our happiness and hours of sunlight and in the Winter months we are definitely lacking rays.
The article also states that New Hampshire has the second highest in-state tuition which is $16,329. What's up with that? And In addition the article says the state's population that is in the 19 to 25 year old age range is only 7.8% which the second lowest percentage in the country. This doesn't surprise me. I have heard in the past that New Hampshire struggles to retain young people. I think many New Hampshire college graduates relocate after school to cities with more job opportunities like Boston or New York.
The article is a pretty interesting read! Check out the full study here.