I live about two hours south of Humbolt. Sorry I don't know anything about the universities up there. I've been through Humbolt a few times. It's very pretty up there, very artsy fartsy, hippie-dippy, but you're a little over an hour's drive away from San Francisco.
Also, here's a little factoid- it's known as the marijuana capital of the world. So, it's got that going for it, which, depending on who you ask is nice. 🙂