Karen Yakovac, a media relations specialist from the Indianapolis Project, a non-proud organization which publishers information about Indianapolis, said her city ranks among the top 30 because it has " a diversified economy, a lower-than-average unemployment rate, and lower-than-average housing costs."

Yakovac added that an efficient local government has helped to maintain the city's growth. The city has set back-to-back records for job creation in 1992 and 1993.

But at the career center of Sioux Fall's Augustana College, Doug Noteboom, the director, said he is not sure his city merits its top 30 ranking.

"It's my contention that the job market for college graduates is very competitive," Noteboom said. "Our community struggles extremely hard to find people to work at the $5 to $8 [per hour] wage rate."

Noticeably missing from the rankings are more well-known urban centers where recent graduates typically flock for employment, such as Boston, New York City and Los Angeles.

According to students and Chamber of Commerce officials in various cities, the point system only partially added up to a fair survey.

James F. Klocke, an official with Boston's Chamber of Commerce, disputed the city's exclusion from the top 30.

"A lot of new graduates find that work isn't as interesting as college," Klocke said, "but in Boston that's not the case because companies are doing innovative things and working with the best technology and the brightest people in the world.