Nook, The · Photo: Smallbones · CC0Spring Garden Township is a college town: 16 of every 100 residents are students
No college sits inside Spring Garden Township’s boundary, but York College of Pennsylvania’s campus in York, with 3,294 students on campus, is 0.4 miles from the center of town, and Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology is 23.9 miles away in Lancaster. 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 Spring Garden Township. Colleges are described, not graded.
What stands out about college from Spring Garden Township
Facts about the town and its distance to campus; each college’s own figures follow.
What it’s like to live in Spring Garden Township
How much the colleges shape the town, from the Census Bureau’s survey of residents.
16 of every 100 Spring Garden Township residents are in college (PA: 6).
How students change Spring Garden Township’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: 9.2% of Spring Garden Township residents are below the poverty line, 9.1% when college students are left out (that estimate could be off by 5 points either way). 13% 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 counts the share of renters paying 30% or more of income on rent, leaving it out only where students are a quarter of residents or more. Here they are 16%, so student incomes still weigh on that figure.
CDC’s estimates follow each place’s age mix, and Spring Garden Township’s median age is 35.1 (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 Spring Garden Township
Two private colleges within 4.7 miles, and one public college within 1.2 miles.
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. Pick your family’s income.
Starts at $75–110k, where Spring Garden Township’s median household income ($102,686) 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 within 15 miles of Spring Garden Township: 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 York (22).
Questions about college near Spring Garden Township
Is Spring Garden Township a college town?
Yes. 16 of every 100 Spring Garden Township residents are enrolled in college (Census, 2020–24), against 6 across Pennsylvania. The nearest campus, York College of Pennsylvania, is 0.4 miles away in York.
What colleges are near Spring Garden Township?
Within 15 miles: York College of Pennsylvania (0.4 miles, 3,294 students on campus), Pennsylvania State University-Penn State York (1.2 miles, 697) and YTI Career Institute-York (4.7 miles, 342).
Why is Spring Garden Township’s poverty rate so high?
Students who live off campus count in the Census figures. 9.2% of residents are below the poverty line; leaving college students out, 9.1% are (ACS 2020–24, give or take 5 points).
What is the closest community college to Spring Garden Township, and what does it cost?
Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster, 23.9 miles away. Tuition and fees are $9,050 a year for Pennsylvania residents; the federal net price, $14,104, 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 Spring Garden Township. 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 →