For all-out closeness to in-season paddling, Colorado at Boulder's pretty nice... you're only 30 min from Golden, ~1 hour from foxton, and there's the whitewater park downtown.

If you can get there, consider Cornell and Dartmouth (your primary goal for going to college *is* learning, right?) CU's got class V (but illegal) gorges running through campus, seasonal flow II-IV running into campus, a "warm water" playspot of sorts, a wonderful community (check out the Cornell Outing Club! and Cornell Outdoor Education), and it's a two hour drive from most every run in New York state, from the creeks of the 'Dacks to the year-round play  at watertown. There are schools with closer access to more consistent, warmer paddling, but it's a great place.

Dartmouth's got one of the biggest paddling clubs I know of, and I've heard recommended highly several times. It's also got a river running right by  campus, though I'm not sure it's got any noticable drops.