Gen Z Selected This Montana College Town As The Best In America

Gen Z’s Top College Pick in Montana Revealed

Every generation gets named; I myself am a Xennial. I'm in that weird place where I'm too young to be Gen X, but also too old to be a Millennial.

Gen Z, normally thought to be from around 1997-2012, was recently asked what college they thought was the best, and surprisingly a Montana college took the top spot.

Why This Montana School Ranks #1 in the Nation

RentCafe is the website that has laid out which colleges take the top spots in 2025, and they were able to rank their list by using 3 groups with 12 different factors between those 3 groups.

The 3 groups are Affordability, Livability, and Education. These groups include such factors as tuition, share of young adults aged 20 to 29, and student-to-faculty ratio, to name just a few. So now that we know how they determined their rankings, which Montana school came out on top of all these factors and groups?

The Best College in Montana—And It’s Not in Missoula

Sorry Missoula, but Bozeman, the home of Montana State University, was named to the top of RentCafe's best colleges in America list for the second year running.

Here's what they had to say about the town and school:

What makes Bozeman stand out is the balance between academics and the town itself. Bozeman is truly a community, fostered by the presence of students, which leads to a population with a high share of young adults. Its low crime rates and walkability are core traits that help both students and their families feel safe.

If you'd like to see the full list, click here.