That “somebody” was me. The title of this thread is “are kids moving south?”, but the question seems to really be “are more kids coming south for college?”. The answer seems to be “maybe”, but they don’t necessarily seem to be staying. For our little N of 2, we live in the south, both kids went to college in the south, and neither now live in the south.
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The best data I could find was 1/5 out of state students stay in the state they graduated from - one big issue is that the vast majority of out of state students are going to nearby states, the number of students who are going far, is much, much smaller which makes good data hard to come by. It’s also 3+ years old, so we’re also very much looking at pandemic impacted numbers.
States that still import more college graduates than they produce: WA, CA, CO, TX, IL, GA, NY, MA with the 20% gainers being WA, CA, CO, NY, and IL - don’t really see a huge migration to the south for college graduates, but again this data is old.
Layer in the 1/3 of all college graduates move back home (literally) and that stat is just going to get worse with the current job numbers for college graduates tells me that the number of students going south and staying is fun to debate but noise in the overall numbers.
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I live in the “upper” south (NC).
Anecdotally, my kids’ high school has been pretty consistent with graduates staying in the south and some heading deeper south. The past couple of years have seen a big increase in kids going to the Florida universities, Alabama, Auburn & UTK (Clemson, UGA and UofSC have always been popular). Very few head north for college. Anecdotally, of the few that did from my younger daughter’s high school class (2021), three of them transferred back down south after the first year. In my neighborhood, I’ve seen no less than six homes that have UTK flags out front.
Both my daughters went to college in the south. Oldest went to UNC and to the surprise of no one, there are tons of UNC grads in my city. Younger daughter went to VT and there are also many VT grads here. Our city is a large banking center, so lots of recent grads with finance degrees who didn’t want the NYC lifestyle or COL (or cold weather).
I’ve been here 30 years and lived many of those years in the small-town suburbs of the city (one of which didn’t even allow liquor service in restaurants at the time. It was BYOB in a paper bag), and I’ve never been asked about my religion or church status. We have a large Jewish community center and synagogue in the area (another one was recently built in another location of the city). My kids and I have participated in events at the JCC, my kids have volunteered there, and they have open membership to their pool, fitness facility and summer camps, no matter what religion. Our Catholic diocese’s youth basketball program includes teams from the JCC and the Greek Orthodox church.
My younger daughter’s friend and coworker is a gay male from the north who graduated from UofSC. According to her, he had a great experience there and is happily settled into his life in our southern city. They spend a lot of time together and he has not mentioned to her that he feels in any way targeted because of his sexual orientation. His BF is a senior at another southern university and is actively looking for jobs in our city so he can move here after graduation.
I don’t doubt that there are families who will not choose a southern university because of politics. My sister will not let my nephew apply to southern schools for that reason. Her interpretation of southern universities is that they hand out the Red Hats at orientation.
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OMG – where do you worship? was a conversation starter in my smallish city in NC.
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I live in a metro suburb. Haven’t had that question—- except maybe when I am with other people who are also Jewish, will sometimes be asked which congregation we belong to. So if you speak in generalities about religious affiliation, it has come up when we are playing Jewish geography 
my town was higher than that 
Anyone claiming there is no difference in overall, average, culture in the areas is delusional IMO
You are welcome to disagree
structural policies and norms and laws are different, from school rules to state laws…this is why people move. this is why voting outcomes are different (and yes, obviously there are variations within towns and communities).
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The level varies, though. The most red town in CT or MA or RI or even NH is nowhere near as red as in the redder of AL (and generally still pretty purple). I actually grew up in one of the reddest towns in a NE state. It isn’t all that red. AND they still have to abide by state law. This is a weird argument people are making, that all states are the same because there is some overlap
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We had 2 boys leave New England and go south for school. One is never coming back, the other is definitely coming back, at least for a year.
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My D had geographic constraints for school - not west of the Mississippi and not south of MD. But, she’s worked all over the country for both co-op, internships, and now full time work. Her reality is that she’ll follow the career opportunities wherever they go but she just admitted last month that she’s missing Chicagoland. (We moved after she graduated from HS so this isn’t “home” to her but she loved her time here.) Her second favorite spot is Denver. She’d move back there in a heartbeat too.
I wonder how she’s tracked in the data…..she’s never had a land line and her cell phone is her original number from OH. She’s already lived in 9 states. She’s been registered to vote and had driver’s licenses in the last three.
Agree. Have also lived in a red town in New England… Republican mayor, most of the reps on the school board, finance committee, zoning board, etc. all pretty conservative. BUT- not social conservatives. Different type of environment for sure.
It absolutely is. I work in a large city in Virginia and was at a meeting with high level executives at a large public utility. The execs were all chatting about where they attend church. I am also Jewish, which resulted in a small uncomfortable pause when I had to explain that my family attends a synagogue. We have made a lot of progress, but lots still to go. All that said, my kid is torn between schools in Pennsylvania or the Carolinas if her Virginia choices do not pan out.
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No one is saying that. I’m certainly not. I’m saying that you can’t characterize states or regions as a whole when it is more nuanced and polka-dotted than that. I will definitely put Durham or Chapel Hill-Carrboro up against any liberal city anywhere in the country.
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My daughter went to university in Durham. I am very familiar with it. The biggest difference if you want to make that kind of comparison is how big is your bubble. I grew up outside of SF. I would argue that Durham is really not that liberal. But what is inarguable is that you don’t have to go 30 minutes down the road and you’re in a whole different world. My daughter spoke a lot about not going out of the bubble - and the fact that there was no decent Mexican food anywhere - but that’s a whole different discussion.
I do think making unilateral statements about the south are just silly. Even if you leave aside rural vs urban which might as well be in different countries, Houston, Miami, Atlanta, Baltimore, New Orleans - these places are extremely different.
The US is massive, many of our regions are massive. Trying to layer a New England reference on some of these places is just silly. I lived in Massachusetts, and while yes comparing NYC to Portland is also silly - one did pop up from MA to buy liquor in NH, these places are geographically so close there is a whole lot more overlap culturally than the thousands of miles crossing the south.
I agree with most of what you are saying but am curious about this:
Why do you say that? Please elaborate on the points of your argument. Because it absolutely is IMO. Duke not so much. I am not a fan of their policies but if you get out of the Duke bubble and into the city and county of Durham it is very liberal. (Also great Mexican food if you get out into Durham and you know where to look.) There are plenty of places in NC that are definitely NOT really liberal but Durham very much is.
I’ll share a small anecdote about Chapel Hill while I am here. Chapel Hill is where I first saw two gay me. Holding hands and showing affection for each other walking down the sidewalk in front of the ice cream shop in the early 1979s. We were moving my older brother into college. In the town I grew up in you didn’t see that but nobody batted an eye in Chapel Hill.
It’s not as liberal as SF - I was making a comparison if that wasn’t clear. I also never lived there so will defer that my visits didn’t uncover the true liberalism. We can agree to disagree on the Mexican - she was hunting for Christmas tamales and it was not pretty. But frankly Mexican food is subjective and extremely regional.
Appreciate the clarification. My Durham friends say the Mexican flea market on Pettigrew St is the best place to go for Mexican food if you are ever back in the area.
Depends on which direction your 30 minutes down the road from Durham takes you what kind of vibe you get. One way is Raleigh or another is Carrboro both liberal enough. But if you go 30 minutes up to Henderson, Oxford, Roxboro and that is another kettle of fish. Highly recommend the book “Blood Done Sign My Name” by Tim Tyson — it a great read on civil rights and has a great background on that area in the 60s.
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For us and D26 it comes down to the ‘law of the land’.
There are just certain states that pose health concerns (due to lack of health care) and lack of specialist (the OB-GYN brain drain is real in many of these states) that are needed for her to live a healthy and safe life.
Even if you find an awesome bubble (many college towns and larger business districts/hubs are great welcoming bubbles) - that doesn’t change the laws. Sure, your day-to-day life is probably great because many of these issues are not being dealt with on a daily basis for most.
But that bubble can pop pretty quickly for many- and things can go downhill pretty fast if you do not have laws and legal protections in place.
I was born and raised in the south. Hubby and I are both veterans and spent over 2 decades moving from place to place- so I have a lot of comparisons to choose from.
So, when I say there are reasons that my children will not go to school in the south- I assure you it is not from ignorance or from believing in stereotypes that I have only seen on the news or social media.
The great thing- we all have options- and have to do what is best for ourselves and our families.
It was sad to take a few great schools off the college list due solely on location- but there are also many awesome schools that are a great fit.
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Yes, I hear you and am so glad that abortion is still legal in VA and NC (although more restricted in NC than previously). It is definitely something to consider for states that have banned it.
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Are high school grads headed south for college? Sure. Maybe.
Why? That’s a question with many possible answers. Sometimes, a student’s reasons have nothing to do with politics. Some might find that really upsetting. Some might not. Both are ok.
What really only matters is what type of college you/your kid (if you’re a parent) are looking for. What flavor of ice cream do YOU want/need? Everybody else’s opinions don’t really matter. YOU, the college student, are going to be the one attending there, going to class, doing the work.
So it doesn’t matter if your neighbor, your friend’s mom, your 2nd cousin’s parents, or the person next to you at the check out line at the grocery store disagrees with your choice. Is the college you picked the right fit for you? Yes? Well, that’s all that matters.
You live in a blue state and people you know are upset that you’re going to attend college in a red state? That’s just their opinion.
You live in a red state and people you know are upset that you’re going to attend college in a blue state? That’s just their opinion.
Go out and live your life. Take advantage of all the awesome opportunities available to you at whatever college you select. After all, it’s only 4 yr of your life. Look at it as an experiment…if you learn later on that you don’t like it there, you don’t have to live there forever. The world is your oyster. 
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I am not even going to pretend to be knowledgeable on any of this- I just know what is behind my families decision and a few other close friends’ decision (and surprise- we have similar view points - 
)
But my uneducated opinion:
Those that are moving south for school are not considering politics (or at least not a major part of the decision) but those that are choosing not to- are considering politics. 
Many of these southern schools are doing a fantastic job with marketing and enticing $$$ offers. I can see the draw that many have for these excellent universities!! (and there are many great options)
But for our family- there are just reasons that they will not work for us.
But I have never even thought negative things towards those that are going there- I am excited for anyone who has found what feels to be their ‘home’ for the university experience (and I hope that is how most also feel?!).
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