My daughter stays at school for Thanksgiving as she only has off from Tues to Sun. Sometimes the profs let them shave that down, but last year they had 3 extra days off for the hurricane so they had classes and labs on Monday and Tues. She had a good time going to Universal and shopping in Orlando on Thanksgiving, and to the beach on Friday.
Not only is is expensive to travel at Thanksgiving, it is crowded and often bad weather causing delays There are only a few days to travel, and the Sun/Mon after Thanksgiving are the worst. A D’s school, there are no dining services on Thurs, and maybe limited the other days, but there are places to eat nearby. The dorms are not closed. At Christmas, the dorms are closed. There are quite a few international students so they make arrangements, but I’m sure they charge them extra.