Metro East in the context of "Collinsville, Illinois"

Greater St. Louis is the 23rd-largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States consisting with an MSA population more than 2.8 million, and almost 3 million CSA the largest in Missouri, and the second-largest in Illinois. Its core city—St. Louis, Missouri—sits in the geographic center of the metro area, on the west bank of the Mississippi River. The river bisects the metro area geographically between Illinois and Missouri, although the latter portion is much more populous. The MSA includes St. Louis County, which is independent of the City of St. Louis; their two populations are generally tabulated separately.

The St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan statistical area (MSA) includes the City of St. Louis; the Illinois counties of Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair (known collectively as the Metro East); and the Missouri counties of Crawford (only the City of Sullivan), Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis (separate from and not inclusive of the city of St. Louis), and Warren.

Madison County is located in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a part of the Metro East in southern Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 264,776, making it the eighth-most populous county in Illinois and the most populous in the southern portion of the state. The county seat is Edwardsville, and the largest city is Granite City.

Madison County is part of the Metro East region of Greater St. Louis. The pre-Columbian city of Cahokia Mounds, a World Heritage Site, was located near Collinsville. Edwardsville is home to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. To the north, Alton is known for its abolitionist and American Civil War-era history. It is also the home of the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine. Godfrey, the village named for Captain Benjamin Godfrey, offers Lewis and Clark Community College formerly the Monticello Female Seminary.

St. Clair County is the ninth most populous county in Illinois. Located directly east of St. Louis, the county is part of the Metro East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area in southern Illinois. As of the 2020 United States census, St. Clair County had a population of 257,400, making it the second most populous county in Illinois outside the Northern Third. Belleville is the county seat and largest city.

Along the Mississippi River, Cahokia Village was founded in 1697 by French settlers and served as a Jesuit mission to convert tribes of the Illinois Confederation to Christianity. The area became the center of the French Illinois Country. Prior to the establishment of Illinois as a state, the government of the Northwest Territory created St. Clair County in 1790. In 1809, the county became the administrative center of the Illinois Territory and one of the two original counties of Illinois, alongside Randolph County. In 1970, the United States Census Bureau placed the mean center of U.S. population, which generally has moved west every decennial census, in St. Clair County.

Greenville is a city in Bond County, Illinois, United States, 51 miles (82 km) east of St. Louis. The population as of the 2020 census was 7,083, up from 7,000 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Bond County.

Greenville is part of the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is also considered part of the Metro East region of Illinois.

Edwardsville is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 26,808 as of the 2020 census. The city was named in honor of Ninian Edwards, former governor of the Illinois Territory. Edwardsville is a part of Southern Illinois and the Metro East region within Greater St. Louis, located 18 miles (29 km) northeast of downtown St. Louis.

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, the Edwardsville Arts Center, the Edwardsville Journal, the Madison County Record, and the Edwardsville Intelligencer are based in Edwardsville. Edwardsville High School and Metro-East Lutheran High School serve students in the area. Edwardsville also serves as the headquarters for Prairie Farms Dairy, one of the largest dairy cooperatives in the United States and ranked in the top 10 of the largest privately held companies in the St. Louis region. The city is part of the Edwardsville School District, which also includes the villages of Glen Carbon, Hamel and Moro, as well as the township areas around them.

Granite City is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States, within the greater St. Louis metropolitan area. Its population was 27,549 at the 2020 census, making it the third-largest city in the Metro East and Southern Illinois regions, behind Belleville and O'Fallon. Officially founded in 1896, Granite City was named by the Niedringhaus brothers, William and Frederick, who established it as a steelmaking company town for the manufacture of graniteware kitchen utensils.

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is a public university in Edwardsville, Illinois, United States. Located within the Metro East of Greater St. Louis, SIUE was established in 1957 as an extension of Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It is the younger of the two major institutions of the Southern Illinois University system. SIUE has eight constituent undergraduate and graduate colleges, including those in arts and sciences, business, dentistry, education, engineering, graduate study, nursing, and pharmacy, in addition to it main campus it also hosts the East St. Louis Center closer to the city of St Louis.

While most of SIUE's students are from Illinois, out-of-state and international students account for 19% of enrollment. SIUE offers in-state tuition for undergraduate students from all 50 states. The university offers numerous extracurricular activities to its students, including athletics, honor societies, student clubs and organizations, as well as fraternities and sororities. The university has more than 115,000 alumni.

Lewis and Clark Community College is a public community college in Godfrey, Illinois. It serves approximately 3,973 credit and non-credit students annually. The college has nine locations throughout the St. Louis Metro East, including a campus and humanities center in Edwardsville, Illinois; community education centers in Alton, Illinois, Carlinville, Illinois and Jerseyville, Illinois; a training center in Bethalto, Illinois; a river research center in East Alton, Illinois; and a location at the East St. Louis Higher Education Center in East St. Louis, Illinois. Lewis and Clark community college has career and transfer study options. The college also offers personal enrichment programming for adults and children, as well as corporate and safety training options for professionals.