In my experience, online classes are not innately southern but more a function of an ongoing increase in student bodies at the popular universities (many of which are southern, so that might be where it comes from) as well as a leftover from the pandemic. Most colleges required their faculty to resume holding classes in person, post pandemic, but some colleges are still allowing online options. There’s also the issue of available classroom space at some campuses, which may also contribute to the presence of online options.
My daughter started her freshman year at the tail end of the pandemic (masks were still required in common areas) and she probably had a 50/50 ratio her first year of in person & online. As the years progressed, the online options dwindled but she still took several online classes during her 4 years - usually elective courses where being in person was not critical. She appreciated that option.
But note that Florida public universities do have a summer session requirement for most entering frosh. Cost (money and time) of such should be accounted for when considering a Florida public university.
Very late to this discussion but wanted to put in my two cents since we just had this discussion on Thanksgiving with my younger sisters pre-college kids. Now we’re in San Diego and I asked this of the eldest highschoolers. I said: “would you consider any schools in the south; Including if they funded your education?
All the answers were unanimous: No. The feedback was that they don’t want to support states that will not provide equality to their female brethren nor fair immigrant and religious rights. Both female and male students agreed.
Additionally, my sister‘s family moved to Tennessee for more opportunities in housing and economics. Her children don’t like living there. They can’t move back because they bought homes there, but can’t afford to return. They don’t like the weather; and the lack of response times in restaurants and businesses. The higher costs of fresh and varied produce is a change for them. Public facilities are maintained but need upgrades.
When I’ve spoken to her children privately, they’ve indicated that they were really spoiled in California and didn’t realize how rough it was going to be to adjust to the changes and lack of California perks.
All four of them have been actively pursuing jobs back in California and are willing to rent.
So maybe the kids in, whatever data you choose, are returning to the South for school, but staying there is a completely different ballgame.
With a population gain of nearly 1.8 million — a change of 1.4% between 2023 and 2024 — the South added more people than all other regions combined, making it both the fastest-growing and largest-gaining region in the country.
Either the data is fiction or anecdotal stories dont reflect what’s happening across the country.
Was just talking to a friend last night, originally from Florida (we are in NJ, her husband is from NJ). They once thought about moving south where her parents lived, but is so glad they didn’t. There are a lot of people from this area who moved south, regretted it, but they can’t afford to move back due to the COL and super high home prices.
I was looking (admittedly not very hard) to see if there is an age breakdown anywhere. Wondering if it’s mostly retirees moving South. Would make sense if that’s the highest population growth since there are a lot of people in the 60 + age range. Not sure what percentage of people moving south retirees account for.
But there’s a ton of data that says more kids are going to school in the south. There’s also data that says retirees are moving to the south and probably a general trend overall.
I think there have been other threads almost identical to this one over the past several years - and the responses are like clock work.
Show data that says people are moving to the south
Elicit a ton of responses from people who would never do it because of ____ reason
Show more data
Elicit more responses from posters who say they know people who hate it there.
Complete wild guess but I assume that the majority of people on CC must be from the northeast or west coast.
It’s obvious that a lot of students are going south. I think there are a lot of reasons for that, not the least of which is that the southern schools heavily recruit from the Northeast and maybe the west coast too and throw a ton of money at those students. I’m just not sure whether those students are staying once they’re finished with school.
A lot of the move south is probably driven by economics in general.
But yes, there are probably more people from the Northeast and West Coast (mostly CA) here.
My guess is students go where the jobs are. And not surprisingly, many companies have set up shop in southern states. Some students will stay and some will leave but the overall trend is southern migration.
Maybe that’ll change with climate change or the economic advantages will disappear because of supply/demand.
Yes, I think it is indisputable at this point that the popularity of southern schools have increased significantly for a variety of reasons.
It will be interesting to see if they stay. Agree with another poster who said that will depend on where the jobs are, and a lot of corporations are relocating south.
Completely anecdotal, but my daughter had many offers for internships, all in the northeast (because those are the ones she applied to), as did most of her northeast friends. With online interviews, it’s much easier to get hired from all over.
In the past 2 weeks, five companies announced moves to NC resulting in the creation of 3,000+ jobs and $1.8 billion worth of investment. The Toyota battery plant that recently opened in Liberty, NC is expected to create 5,100 jobs (even though electric vehicle sales have cooled, Toyota plans to migrate to more hybrid vehicles).
Anecdotally, many of my daughter’s finance friends ended up in Charlotte - a large banking center - no surprise there. They hail from a variety of northern states including NY, NJ, PA MA & MD. They are all happy here (according to D). Charlotte leans very blue, btw, as does Raleigh.
There will always be people who have political opinions about life in the south and that’s fine - no one is putting a gun to anyone’s head to move here. I certainly have my opinions about the decline of NY and am extremely thankful that we made the decision to leave 30 years ago. Having raised two southern girls, they have never felt compromised or discriminated against as females and both have chosen to remain here after college and raise families. In all my years here, I have met many grandparents from northern states who have retired here to be close to their children and grandchildren. They are mostly thankful to be out of the cold weather and don’t seem to be overly concerned about the politics.