Here’s yet further research that college towns are key centers for economic development, in the following AP article: College towns make the grade with entrepreneurs.

The standard reasons why college towns are attractive to entrepreneurs:
- A lower cost of living/working in small college towns than in big cities
- Educated young workers without salary demands, sometimes enough to compete with outsourcing (ie home-shoring)
- High quality of life, fueled by vibrant nightlife, recreation and a progressive mindset
- Recessions aren’t as severe because students already pretty much have a minimal fixed income

...and one that hasn’t been mentioned previously on this website:

Young, open-minded, tech-centric consumers - these natural ‘early adopters’ are an ideal (almost necessary) target market for a new company introducing an innovative product or service.

Some of the ‘hot’ college towns listed in the article:

Madison, WI - University of Wisconsin;
Missoula and Bozeman, MT - University of Montana and Montana State University;
Fayetteville, AR - University of Arkansas;
Fort Collins, CO - Colorado State University