High Street in Oxford, England, a prototypical example of a university town. There is no central campus; rather, university buildings are scattered around the city between shops, such as those at centre right of the picture.Main Street in Hanover, New Hampshire, home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College
A college town or university town is a community (often a separate town or city, but in some cases a town/city neighborhood or a district) that is dominated by its university population. The university may be large, or there may be several smaller institutions such as liberal arts colleges clustered, or the residential population may be small, but college towns in all cases are so dubbed because the presence of the educational institution(s) pervades economic and social life. Many local residents may be employed by the university—which may be the largest employer in the community—many businesses cater primarily to the university, and the student population may outnumber the local population.
