My daughter pays $1300 a month for her bedroom/bathroom in a 4 bedroom at Clemson, it’s going g up to $1600 next year. Parking is $100 a month, it’s $150 at the complex next door. It’s lovely, interior corridors, balcony overlooking the pool, clubhouse, study rooms, free coffee bar, weekly swag. It an easy walk to campus, shops and restaurants. There are $500 a month options, but not walkable and not nearly as nice. Every year there seems to be a new complex being built right near campus, so if you want to be close (commuter parking is a real issue, and forget about game days getting in and off camps) you are going to pay, and with such a large northeast population, it’s hard to get these places. Her last place was 2 miles away, had boat docks, free paddle boards and kayaks, goat yoga, parties, free shuttle to campus. That was $800 but probably $1000 now.
Agreed, but GA Tech might overlap with MIT.
The same is true in the midwest with Big10 schools, largely because the schools are highly ranked and have strong alumni networks. Kids from upper middle class families in Chicagoland are happy to attend UIUC, especially for business and engineering. Likewise Michigan students applying to UofM, Indiana students and Purdue or IU, etc.
The Ivys and big Southern colleges maintain the exclusivity of their networks using very different models.
The Ivys do it by placing barriers at the point of admission, knowing that wealth and class can overcome these barriers --either directly in the case of big donors and famous last names, or indirectly in the case of legacy preferences, country-club sports, fancy ECs, and feeder prep schools. The Ivys are careful to let in a certain percentage of the “wrong” class of people (those without connections) for optics purposes, but not enough that it would overly dilute the network of the “right” people.
The big Southern schools don’t place a barrier at the point of admission-- basic academics and a middle class income are more than sufficient for admission to the school itself. Instead, the barrier is placed at the level of the frats and sororities. These absolutely discriminate based on income and name (as well as race.) They don’t even pretend not to. Being in the most exclusive frats and sororities gives you access to a very powerful network indeed.
Seems like a summary of common reasons to choose an out-of-state southern public include:
| Student college admission credentials | Available money | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| High | Low | Less selective with big scholarships (e.g. Alabama, Mississippi) that are less expensive than in-state |
| Very high | High | Highly selective (e.g. UNC-CH, Georgia Tech, UT Austin) for prestige |
| Ordinary | High | Less selective flagship (e.g. Alabama, Mississippi) instead of in-state non-flagship |
| Various | High | Social, weather, political reasons (could go the other way as well) |
Same. The kids in both of my D’s classes (2020 and 2024) that chose to go south were, for the most part, not highly motivated students, and their choice of where to attend seems largely driven by where they could spend the most time in bathing suits or tailgating.
The one exception I know of is one of my D20’s close friends, who attended UF. She had a great 4 years, but was also happy to return to NJ for dental school upon graduation. For that matter, of all of the kids from the HS class of 2020 who went south for school, I know of only 1 who has remained there (South Carolina). The rest have returned to the northeast.
Too soon to know what will happen with our HS class of 2024, though I know of one student who shipped off to CoC and only lasted 2.5 weeks. The rest who are in the south seem to be enjoying themselves immensely (if Instagram is any true indicator).
More and more northern families are following their south-bound college kids and relocating altogether, especially if it’s their last college kid. My city recently posted a stat saying that we’re getting 117 new people per day moving here - many with families who will eventually apply to at least some of our private and in-state universities and those in neighboring states that are easily drivable.
I’m originally from the northeast and when looking at the large southern public’s for the first time with my oldest, back in 2012, I was floored by the difference in campuses when compared to the SUNY’s that I was educated at. Night & day difference. Country club like amenities, professionally landscaped grounds, new and bright buildings, state of the art spaces AND in many cases, cheaper tuition. I remember taking pictures of the the mansions on fraternity/sorority row at UofSC and sending them to my SUNY sorority sisters in disbelief.
Obviously, a fancy campus alone does not a quality education make, but aesthetics factor in considerably to a lot of 17 & 18 year-old brains.
You aren’t even describing a school like Brown a generation ago (I was there in the 1970’s) but TWO generations ago. When your description IS correct, circa 1955.
I knew two handfuls of wealthy/donor/famous/country club type kids, and many dozens of “ordinary” kids like myself. Parents were teachers or preachers or librarians or optometrists… regular folks. Brown’s tradition at the time was that a member of the clergy who was a parent of a graduate would deliver the remarks at the ceremony the day before commencement, which was held in a historic Baptist church in downtown Providence. We actually placed bets my year- there were so many “clergy kids” in my class (1 was famous- his dad had been arrested many times leading Viet Nam War protests, the rest were just religious leaders in their own communities). None of them were wealthy if their lifestyles were any indication- and a friend of mine came from a missionary family (no money there).
And this was before need-blind admissions!
The network of the “right” people has been diluted for at least the last 20 years- heavily diluted. JFK Jr. graduated from Brown in the early 1980’s (as did at least one Kennedy cousin) and even the alumni office would be hard pressed to come up with a cocktail parties worth of the “right class of people” unless they were aged 95 and still drinking.
And yet over 1500 Illinoisans flock to Alabama every year - and there’s other’s they are going to as well.
Over 2K from NY/NJ/CT, etc.
And that’s just one school example.
Florida State, Ole Miss, U of SC, Charleston and many more are drawing from all over.
In this context, it does seem strange that Alabama and Mississippi are 63-64% out-of-state, but have only 2% Asian (presuming that is what you mean by ORM) enrollment. White enrollment is 73% and 78% respectively, suggesting that they both still mainly attract White students from both in-state and out-of-state.
One explanation for the trend I have not seen in the discussion, but may be a factor… could northerners be going to southern schools because that is where they want to live after graduation? Think of it as part of the migration out of high cost, low job growth states like NY and NJ.
Maybe they are simply fleeing a state that has some serious problems. Think of it as part of the migration out of IL.
I think I mentioned it above 
One reason that we liked the idea of our daughter attending college in Texas is that the job market and housing costs are both better there. We live near Portland, OR.
I agree for a long time now, the better model for Ivies and such was that they were intentionally mixing kids with lots of intellectual capital and kids with lots of financial and social capital. And it was supposed to be to everyone’s mutual benefit. And that is still kinda accurate.
I am not so sure about Greek organizations in the South adopting that model, but that is not really my turf.
ORM means over represented majority, does it not? At least, I have thought that for the last ten years.
No doubt I’m going to be corrected by a lot of people now, hahaha.
Usually, ORM is used to mean “Asian” (“Over Represented Minority”), but sometimes is used to mean “Asian + White”.
That’s my interpretation.
In my opinion, a more affordable cost of living and availability of jobs could definitely be deciding factors for a lot of students.
A more affordable cost of living is what drove my husband and I to move from CA to AZ over 20 years ago. I feel like it’s one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. There’s no way we would have ever been able to afford to buy a house in northern CA where we used to live.
I think it heavily depends on school. In case of my two daughters everyone works extremely hard at their schools. D at Rhodes woks a lot to get her As and all her friends too. No they are not bathing or partying most of the time. GaTech is a challenging school for everyone.
So no, my kids did not go to south for fun. I would say quite opposite.
When I started my Masters, for my first class (Org Behavior), I studied on a raft in the pool.
In the end, college is college and many don’t make it or many get into “easier” majors.
Kids may be less motivated - but they will get a wake up - no matter the geography - or the college isn’t doing its job.
But it’s no different than a home or car - do you want new, modern, nice - or old, crumbly, moldy?
Often times, that’s the choice.
And there is more to school than studying - no matter where you are.
Mine ubers to the beach - it’s her happy place - but she’s still in the library til midnight or later every night.