Methodology
To determine the college towns emerging as COVID-19 hot spots, 24/7 Tempo reviewed county-level data on new weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cities, towns, villages, and census-designated places were ranked based on the number of new COVID-19 hospitalizations in their surrounding Health Service Area (HSA) in the week Aug. 27-Sep. 2, 2023 per 100,000 residents in the hospital service area. Data on COVID-19 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the hospital service area was derived by the CDC using calculations performed at the Health Service Area level, the smallest geographic unit for which hospitalization data is available, and was assigned to the county level by the CDC. Only places with at least 5,000 residents where at least 33.3% of the population is enrolled in college or graduate school were considered. Only the largest qualifying place in each county was included. Data on population and college enrollment came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey and are five-year estimates. Data used to determine the largest college or university in each place is from the U.S. Department of Education.
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