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<p>Hmmm . . . Interesting definition. Let’s see, for Ann Arbor:</p>
<p>City population 113,934. The university has a total enrollment of 41,674 (undergrad & grad students), the vast majority of them between 18-24. Not all the students are counted by the census as Ann Arbor residents, so the actual number of people living there during the academic year is well over 113,934, but still, I think it’s safe to say that well over 25% of the academic-year Ann Arborites are between 18-24. Actually, even by the census count 26.8% of the city’s population is 18-24; throw in the students whose “residence” is listed as somewhere other than Ann Arbor and the percentage of the academic-year population in the 18-24 demographic is probably more like 40 or 50%. </p>
<p>Largest employer: The University of Michigan with approximately 26,000 employees (including 12,000 at the medical center). The University is not only Ann Arbor’s largest employer, it’s the second-largest employer in Detroit-Flint-Ann Arbor Combined Statistical Area, trailing only General Motors.</p>
<p>Percentage of population with a college degree: of those 25 and older, 69.3% hold a bachelor’s degree or higher and 39.4% hold a graduate or professional degree. Those percentages would shrink a bit if you included all the 18-24 year olds in the denominator, but both figures are among the very highest in the nation, I believe second only to Boulder, CO.</p>
<p>So by your definition, Ann Arbor is the quintessential college town.</p>
<p>The term’s ambiguous, though. Some people use it the way you do, to refer to a municipality dominated by a college. Others (including Princeton Review) use it to mean the place a college is located, regardless of size or demographics.</p>