Youngstown tops list of Ohio's most affordable college towns

Youngstown State University students already benefit from the most affordable tuition of all Ohio’s state universities. Now a study reveals the city of Youngstown is also the most affordable college town in the state.

Great College Deals, a leading online resource for prospective college students, placed Youngstown at the top of its new list of Ohio’s 20 Most Affordable College Towns.

With a cost of living 28 percent lower than the national average and 16 percent below Ohio’s average, Youngstown was ranked most affordable. Others in the top five, in the order of affordability, include Toledo, Nelsonville, Akron and Columbus.

“Food, healthcare, transportation and entertainment costs are all less than the national average (in Youngstown),” the GCD report states, “while housing costs of only 26 percent of the U.S. median make it easy for students to live well in off-campus homes and apartments.”

The site also mentioned Youngstown’s low crime rate, an active local sporting scene, several community theater venues and a walker-friendly downtown among the amenities the city enjoys.

GCD created the list by evaluating municipalities that are home to more than 130 Ohio colleges and universities based on cost of living factors –such as food, health care, transportation and utilities – compared to the national average. The study also considered amenities, public transportation, crime rates and quality of life.

Youngstown was also named the best college town in the Midwest earlier this year by America Unraveled, an online travel site, and Forbes.com ranked the city the fourth best in the country for raising a family.

YSU’s Board of Trustees voted last summer to freeze tuition, fees and housing costs at current levels for next academic year, maintaining the university’s status as the most affordable public university in Ohio and Western Pennsylvania.

Full-time tuition will remain at $8,087 a year for Ohio residents, the lowest among the state’s largest public universities and nearly $1,600 below the statewide average.