We've had success managing properties in smaller towns and keeping the occupancy high, but it's something to be aware of. 

I always recommend starting in your own market first, then go out of town, then out of state, but I understand California is expensive.If you need to create cash, wholesaling is the best alternativeIf you have some cash, then maybe do a few flix and flips to build your cash reserves.If you have cash saved, yes you can buy a rental in other markets, but you need to research and create your list of contacts in that marketYou can always buy a fixer upper, then refinance, and repeat, you can do that with favorable rates up to 10 times using loans for a secondary/investment home

One strategy is to look for a premium town that does not have large amounts of rental houses.

And on an aside, I went to Chico State and hope the town is surviving the fires. 

You would need to see what the town allows per acre in their zoning requirements.  

When you're done with school you'll be looking for a job, and you probably don't want to be stuck in your college town.

It's more of a classic boom/bust town that is still bulldozing whole neighborhoods because of an oversupply of housing due to the population shrinking by half.

We are local but turn on the maintenance feature when we go out of town, or just need a break.  

I'm in the Midwest, small town. 

I like that Las Cruces is a college town and the population size is similar to my town in California.