Advantages & Disadvantages of Studying in Austin

You think about studying in Austin but want to get additional information on student life, living costs, housing, nightlife, extracurricular activities and much more before making your final decision in this regard?

Great! Stick with me since I will show you the pros and cons of studying in Austin in the following chapters.

Study in Austin – Overview

Advantages of Studying in Austin

1. Austin is attractive to students due to hot and sunny summers
2. Students in Austin can enjoy mild winters
3. You can spend lots of time outdoors while studying in Austin
4. Austin is surrounded by interesting nature
5. Many recreational spaces in Austin
6. Traffic is not a major problem in Austin yet
7. Easy to get around for students in Austin
8. Students find most things they need for daily life within walking distance
9. Austin is a pretty relaxed place
10. You can meet interesting students from all over the US and even the world
11. Austin is a pretty tolerant city
12. Many great bars and clubs in Austin
13. You can join student clubs and do extracurricular activities
14. Many student jobs in the Austin region
15. Students find decent opportunities for internships
16. Many good jobs in the Austin region
17. Studying in Austin can be great for athletes
18. Many of your friends will envy you for studying in Austin
19. You may be recruited directly from campus
20. You can make many nice day trips from Austin

Austin is attractive to students due to hot and sunny summers

One advantage of studying in Austin is that you can enjoy great summers with many hours of sun.

Thus, if you love the heat, there will be barely better places for you since you will have much warmer days compared to people studying in Philadelphia or other cooler places instead.

Students in Austin can enjoy mild winters

Not only summer are great in the Austin region, but also mild winters are attractive to many students since you can just hang out outdoors with just a shirt on many winter days and may therefore feel like being on vacation all year long while people in colder regions often get annoyed by cool weather in the long run.

You can spend lots of time outdoors while studying in Austin

Since you can spend lots of time outdoors in the Austin region, this also gives you the opportunity to stay fit as a student in Austin since you will not just watch TV or do other things indoors but will also have many opportunities to exercise and to train your body to stay in shape.

Austin is surrounded by interesting nature

You can also explore nice nature reserves and national parks near Austin and this can be a great opportunity to go hiking, swimming, fishing or to do many other things in nature and you can therefore reload your batteries on weekends so you can study hard and get the best grades possible.

Many recreational spaces in Austin

Not only will you find many interesting forests and lakes outside the city borders of Austin, but you will also find many parks and other green spaces within city borders where you can relax and even study in a quiet and peaceful atmosphere.

Traffic is not a major problem in Austin yet

Since traffic is not a big problem compared to other major metropolitan cities yet, students in Austin can get around by car in a pretty efficient manner while students in Los Angeles or other more crowded places often get stuck in traffic jams on a regular basis and may lose lots of time due to that.

Easy to get around for students in Austin

Since you can not only get around by car but may also want to rely on public transport or use your bicycle, there are many options to get around in the Austin region as a student and chances are that you will not suffer from serious mobility problems thanks to decent traffic infrastructure.

Students find most things they need for daily life within walking distance

Thanks to decent supply of material goods, you also don’t have to worry about running out of important material goods as a student in Austin and will find most things you need pretty close to your home so you can have a pretty efficient student life and can use your time to study instead of searching for basic things you need.

Austin is a pretty relaxed place

Another upside to studying in Austin is that it is also a pretty relaxed city where people are usually friendly and outgoing so you will have a pretty easy time meeting new people and can make new social connections and friends rather quickly.

You can meet interesting students from all over the US and even the world

Since Austin is a pretty popular city all over the US, you may also be able to meet many people from different states and even some international students and can have many interesting conversations which really let you grow in character in the long run.

Austin is a pretty tolerant city

You will also be welcome as a student in Austin no matter where you come from and therefore also don’t have to worry about your background at all.

In fact, you will become a valued member of society rather quickly as long as you are friendly, outgoing and tolerant yourself and also respect people in general.

Many great bars and clubs in Austin

Another benefit of studying in Austin is that you can also experience great nightlife.

In fact, there are many interesting bars and clubs in the Austin region and if you are a party person, you will never run out of ideas in this regard and can just have a great time during your studies in Austin.

You can join student clubs and do extracurricular activities

There are also many student clubs where you can participate in extracurricular activities so you will not only be able to focus on your studies but can also make a positive social impact through many projects which can give you a pretty good feeling and helps you stay motivated in the long run.

Many student jobs in the Austin region

Since Austin is a big city, you will also find more than enough student jobs so you can make some money on the side which can help you finance your studies at least to a certain extent.

Students find decent opportunities for internships

Not only will you find many student jobs, but you will also have more than enough opportunities to work as an intern for big corporations and through those internships, you can make many connections which can help you find a decent job later on once you graduate.

Many good jobs in the Austin region

In general, Austin is one of the most important economic regions in Texas and many big corporations are located in this area.

Consequently, after graduation, chances are that you will find many decent job offers and working for one of those big corporations may be the starting point of a fancy career.

Studying in Austin can be great for athletes

College sports are also pretty important at University of Austin and if you are outstanding at a certain sport, you may also get an athlete scholarship and will therefore have a much easier time financing your degree compared to the vast majority of students who have to pay everything by themselves.

Many of your friends will envy you for studying in Austin

Since Austin is a pretty popular city, many of your friends may also envy and admire you for studying in Austin and you may therefore be able to get a pretty high social standing among your peers and will also be able to share many interesting stories with your loved ones.

You may be recruited directly from campus

Since there are many big corporations in the Austin region, some of them even recruit directly from campus and if you study hard and get pretty good grades, you may have jobs lined up for you even before graduation.

You can make many nice day trips from Austin

Since Austin is relatively close to other big cities, you can also make nice day trips and can have many great experiences so you can make memories for a lifetime.

Now that you know the reasons for studying in Austin, we should also not forget to talk about the drawbacks of studying in Austin so you will get a much better idea of whether you still want to study in Austin or rather want to study in a different city instead.

Disadvantages of Studying in Austin

1. Many students in Austin complain about high rents
2. Hard to find a decent place to stay within a reasonable amount of time
3. Living costs may become a problem for people who study in Austin
4. High overall financial pressure for people studying in Austin
5. Students in Austin can’t enjoy the beach
6. Crime rates in Austin are above national average
7. Many students have to live in rather dodgy districts of Austin
8. Austin may be too hot for many students
9. Hard to find world-class education in Austin
10. You may not have the same career chances as people from top-tier colleges
11. You will not meet as many international students in Austin as in other big cities
12. Many student jobs pay rather poorly
13. High tuition may force many students in Austin to use student loan debt

Many students in Austin complain about high rents

One downside to studying in Austin is that rents have skyrocketed in this region over the past decades and many students in Austin are no longer able to pay those absurd amounts of money for housing and may not be able to study in Austin due to the enormous costs related to it.

Hard to find a decent place to stay within a reasonable amount of time

Not only are rents pretty high, but housing shortage is also a pretty big problem in the Austin region and many people who study in Austin will therefore not find a suitable and affordable place to stay within a reasonable timeframe while people studying in Houston and other cheaper places often have an easier time in this regard.

Living costs may become a problem for people who study in Austin

You should also know that living costs in Austin are relatively high and this may make it hard for many students in Austin to afford nice things and they often rather have to live a pretty basic lifestyle.

High overall financial pressure for people studying in Austin

Due to high living and housing costs, overall financial pressure for people studying in Austin is pretty high and many students therefore have to worry about their financial situation quite a lot and may not be able to really focus on their studies.

Students in Austin can’t enjoy the beach

Another disadvantage of studying in Austin is that you will also not be able to enjoy the beach while people living in Seattle or other coastal areas can go surfing and do many other water sports and you may therefore greatly envy those people in the long run.

Crime rates in Austin are above national average

You should also know that while crime rates in Austin are lower than in many other big metropolitan areas, they are still above national average and if you are a rather careful person, you may just not feel comfortable and safe as a student in Austin.

Many students have to live in rather dodgy districts of Austin

Since rents are pretty high in Austin, many students are also not able to afford living in a fancy neighborhood and may end up in rather dodgy districts where they just don’t feel comfortable and safe and may therefore not be able to really focus on their studies.

Austin may be too hot for many students

You should also keep in mind that Austin is a pretty hot place and if you can’t stand the heat, you may be far better off moving to Minneapolis or other colder regions since you would just not get happy with student life in Austin in this regard.

Hard to find world-class education in Austin

While there are some decent colleges, it is still hard to find really great education in the Austin region while people living in Boston have a much easier time in this regard since they have world-class universities in this region.

You may not have the same career chances as people from top-tier colleges

Another problem with studying in Austin is that your overall career options will be far worse compared to people studying in top-tier colleges where many fancy jobs will be lined up for them after graduation and they will almost have freedom of choice regarding what company they want to work for.

You will not meet as many international students in Austin as in other big cities

Since Austin is not as popular in the world as L.A. or other prestigious cities, you will also not be able to meet as many international students as people studying in New York City or other internationally renowned cities and your student life may therefore be more boring in the long run.

Many student jobs pay rather poorly

While there are many student jobs in Austin, many of them also pay rather poorly and you will therefore often not be able to finance your degree by working in one of those jobs.

High tuition may force many students in Austin to use student loan debt

Due to high tuition, living and housing costs, many students in Austin also have to use large amounts of student loan debt to finance their degrees which may financially constrain them later on when they have to pay back those huge sums of money.

Top 10 Studying in Austin Pros & Cons – Summary List

Is Austin A Great City For Students?

While Austin can be a great place for students since you can enjoy the great weather while you can also meet many interesting people from all over the world and can have a great time together, you should also know that living and housing costs are pretty high and many students in Austin have to worry about financial problems quite a lot.

Alternative Cities To Study

If you don’t want to study in Austin anymore, you should also have a look at the following articles:

Advantages and disadvantages of studying in Phoenix

Advantages and disadvantages of studying in San José

Advantages and disadvantages of studying in San Antonio

Sources

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/austincitytexas/LND110210

Own research.

About the author

This site is about living, moving and traveling to various parts of our fascinating planet.

My name is Andreas and when I was younger, I traveled the world and learned a lot about different cultures and countries.

Thus, I want to share my experiences with you so that you can benefit from them and avoid common mistakes in this regard.

In my articles, you will find everything you need to find the best location for a happy and successful life.