Photo by Brent Warren.

Due to the sometimes overwhelming presence of The Ohio State University, Columbus is sometimes confused as being a college town. But with a metro area of over two million people, it’s obvious that Columbus is a much bigger place than smaller Ohio college towns like Athens or Oxford.

But according to a new study by WalletHub.com, Columbus still scores very highly when ranking cities according to their college-centric metrics. Columbus ended up clocking in at fifth place on their list of large cities when measuring opportunities for students in addition to factors like cost of living, quality of education and crime rates.

“Experts have argued that an institution’s geographical location is just as important as a strong curriculum and supportive school environment to a student’s academic success and personal development,” states WalletHub’s Richie Bernardo in the company’s report.

When looking at overall cities — both large and small — Columbus’ place on the list falls to 29th with Oxford, Ohio in first and Athens, Ohio in fourth. When only looking at large cities, the four that top Columbus include Atlanta, Austin, Pittsburgh and New Orleans.

To read the full article, visit www.wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-college-cities-and-towns-in-america/.