So I think there are two great things about SIU location. One is just the beauty of the area. Carbondale is located on the edge of the Shawnee National Forest, and is certainly as one of the most picturesque areas of the region. There are all kinds of things to do in the area. There are two big state parks close by, and there are for like large recreational lakes, cellars, boating, camping, fishing. Lots of great places to hike and bike.
There are four public law schools in Illinois. But still, Southern Illinois Law is the only one in the southern region of Illinois. So we get people from from all over the place. People aren't competing to get into a bunch of different schools. When they come to Carbondale, they know that this is where they want to be.
What I love about the location of SIU School of Law is that it's this cozy, wonderful retreat, where you can study without distraction, but it is close to whatever you need to do. If you want to go to Memphis for barbecue. It's three hours down the street, to Nashville for music, three hours, St. Louis to a ballgame, two hours. So many wonderful day trips, but also the opportunity to look outside of your window at any given moment to see deer, and squirrels, and birds, and all of the nature to walk outside of the law school and there's Campus Lake right in front of law school. So if you're stressed, you can take a walk around Campus Lake.
So living in Southern Illinois is very affordable. One of the nice things about it is their rents not bad. That's the biggest part of it. Most of your living is going to be rent. Rent here is comparable to most other towns of this size. But even being a college town normally rent sometimes goes a little bit higher because there's more demand for it. But here it's kind of nice that you don't see that.
