Blue Knob is a college town: 31 of every 100 residents are students
No college sits inside Blue Knob’s boundary, but Mount Aloysius College’s campus in Cresson, with 2,880 students on campus, is 7.8 miles from the center of town, and Pennsylvania Highlands Community College is 16.2 miles away in Johnstown. Across Pennsylvania, 6 of every 100 residents are enrolled in college.
From the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard, June 2026; IPEDS fall 2023 enrollment) and the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, 2020–24. Straight-line distances from the center of Blue Knob. Colleges are described, not graded.
What stands out about college from Blue Knob
Facts about the town and its distance to campus; each college’s own figures follow.
What it’s like to live in Blue Knob
How much the colleges shape the town, from the Census Bureau’s survey of residents.
31 of every 100 Blue Knob residents are in college (PA: 6).
How students change Blue Knob’s other numbers
Read the town’s other grades with this in mind. How TownRatings handles college towns →
Students who live off campus count in the Census poverty figures: 0.0% of Blue Knob residents are below the poverty line, 0.0% when college students are left out (that estimate could be off by 60 points either way). 0% of the students themselves are below the line. In college towns, the Jobs & income grade uses the rate without students and leaves unemployment out.
The Cost grade leaves out the share of renters paying 30% or more of income on rent wherever students are a quarter of residents or more (31% here): it would mostly measure student incomes.
CDC’s estimates follow each place’s age mix, and Blue Knob’s median age is 66.8 (Pennsylvania 40.9), so the adult figures describe a young population.
Crime is counted per resident, and students who live here count as residents. A college with its own police department reports its incidents under that department, not the city.
Colleges within 15 miles of Blue Knob
Three private colleges within 12.2 miles. The nearest public four-year college, Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Altoona, is 15.1 miles away.
Degree-granting colleges with 100 or more students on campus (fall 2023 enrollment, minus students who study only online). Admitted: share of applicants offered a place. Net price: the average a year after grants, for students on federal aid. Graduate: within 6 years (4-year colleges) or 3 (2-year). Earnings: median, 10 years after starting.
What would your family pay?
The average a year after grants, for families on federal aid, at the colleges within 15 miles and the nearest public four-year college. Pick your family’s income.
Starts at $48–75k, where Blue Knob’s median household income ($68,472) falls.
The average a year after grants and scholarships, for first-time, full-time students on federal aid, from the College Scorecard. Your own price depends on your aid package; every college has a net price calculator. For community colleges the net price counts housing and food at full cost, so tuition is shown beside it. “—”: not reported for that income.
Do students finish, and does it pay?
Each dot is a college: across is the share who graduate, up is what they earn ten years after starting.
Graduation: first-time, full-time students within 6 years (4-year colleges) or 3 years (2-year). Earnings: median, 10 years after starting, for students who got federal aid. *Reported for all the campuses that file together: Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Altoona (22).
Questions about college near Blue Knob
Is Blue Knob a college town?
Yes. 31 of every 100 Blue Knob residents are enrolled in college (Census, 2020–24), against 6 across Pennsylvania. The nearest campus, Mount Aloysius College, is 7.8 miles away in Cresson.
What colleges are near Blue Knob?
Within 15 miles: Mount Aloysius College (7.8 miles, 2,880 students on campus), Saint Francis University (11.5 miles, 2,421) and YTI Career Institute-Altoona (12.2 miles, 112).
What is the closest community college to Blue Knob, and what does it cost?
Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Johnstown, 16.2 miles away. Tuition and fees are $7,110 a year for Pennsylvania residents; the federal net price, $6,200, counts housing and food at full cost.
Neighbors talk college
Students, parents, alumni and the neighbors next door.
Colleges: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard and IPEDS (Scorecard 06/10/2026 · IPEDS 2024 · fall 2023 enrollment). “On campus” is fall enrollment minus students who study only online. Distances are straight-line from the center of Blue Knob. Residents in college, age, rent and poverty (including poverty without college students, table B14006): U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–24. Colleges are described, not graded; the College town label marks towns where 15% or more of residents are enrolled. How TownRatings describes colleges →