By Raffaela Kenny-Cincotta, News Correspondent

Boston is named No. 1 in a new study sponsored by the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) ranking the best cities for college students.

The Hub topped the list of major metropolitan cities in the United States with populations greater than 2.5 million, with Washington, D.C. and New York City rounding out the top three. The “College Destinations Index,” released Oct. 1, separates cities by population size and judges locations on extensive criteria under the main categories of “Academic Environment,” “Quality of Life” and “Professional Opportunity.”

“I think Boston is very competitive when it comes to academic environment,” said Julie Ni Zhu, a research analyst for AIER. “In the Boston area there are so many colleges, making it such a supportive environment for students.”

And students agree.

“I would say my favorite thing about Boston is living in a city that has such a big student population,” said Matt Russo, a senior jazz composition major at Berklee College of Music. “But rather than being a college town full of kids, Boston has plenty of other non-school-related places and activities so it’s not too removed from reality. You really get the best of both worlds.”

Lyndon Nicholas, a sophomore English major at Northeastern, said he came to Boston because it seemed like a manageable city.

“It’s big enough so that there’s always something to do, but small enough so that you don’t feel overwhelmed,” he said. “It was definitely one of the deciding factors in my choice in school because I was looking to go to a school in a fairly major city, but I still wanted kind of a campus feel.”

Boston scored remarkably high in several aspects of the College Destinations Index. Compared to other major metro areas, Boston reigned supreme when it came to student diversity at 8.1 percent. The metro with the second highest student diversity was New York City, at 6.1 percent.

Boston also trumped its competitors in subcategories such as “Student Concentration,” which is calculated by examining a city’s ratio of normal citizens to college students. For every 1,000 people of Boston’s total population, about d92 individuals are reportedly college students.

In addition, within the “Quality of Life” heading, Beantown scored well in Arts and Leisure. The AIER calculated that in the City of Boston there are 96 establishments dedicated to arts, entertainment or recreation per every 100,000 members of its population. For comparison, in the same category, Washington D.C. scored 45.1, and New York City 27.2.

“It is a city that is full of other college students, history and opportunity,” said Northeastern junior political science major Mike Schiano. “The variety of activities Boston presents is pretty impressive. Whether I want to go enjoy a day in the Common with my friends or see an exhibit at the MFA, there is always something to do.”

According to the City of Boston website, there are 50 colleges and universities within the metropolitan area. For decades, students have considered Boston a haven for higher learning, an opinion solidified by the AIER’s rankings.

“I knew when I started thinking about college that I wanted to go to school in Boston. I love how everyone here is so young and alive,” said Boston University freshman business major Sean Barker. “You can meet people from all over the country and even all over the world. Going to school anywhere else wouldn’t be the same.”