Some students just don’t care to go because they already perceived they won’t fit in and lack the ambition to even try. No question, the social environment can be harsh when you are a kid whose parents make min wage and having to be friends with kids whose struggle is choosing between a trip to the Alps or a Mercedes Benz for birthday. My nephew goes to a small LAC and he is already taking about the peers singling out a kid who is there on a full-need scholarship as being “poor performing.”
I teach a class at my local CC. Periodically I would come across someone truly gifted and I would encourage them to do “big” things and apply to transfer to “big schools.” Almost always, it’s “no thanks,” I’m going to State where I belong.