Northern students increasingly prefer going to colleges in the South

Northern high-school students are increasingly showing a preference for Southern schools such as Georgia Tech , Ole Miss, and Clemson.

The occurrence undermines narratives that Northern elite schools such as Harvard and Yale are automatic choices for those who can go.

According to a data analysis from the Wall Street Journal , the number of students from Northern states attending Southern public schools has increased 84% over the past twenty years and recently leaped 30% from 2018 to 2022.

The latter jump coincided with COVID-19 lockdowns that plagued Northern states while Southern states stayed open more often.

“You had students home in their basement in Connecticut looking at their phone seeing most of the Northeast closed down and not much happening,” Rick Clark, executive director of strategic student access at Georgia Tech, told the outlet. “At the same time they are seeing sororities at Alabama and football games in Georgia and Florida . Life is happening.”

The most staggering jump came from Northerners going to Mississippi, a 797% increase from 2002 to 2022. Gov. Tate Reeves (R-MS) endorsed the article and urged high-school teenagers to go to the state to get an education to avoid "going woke."

"Want to reduce the risk of your kid going woke or changing their gender while at college? Let them come to the South to get a great education — Mississippi welcomes talented kids from all over at our universities and colleges," Tate said in a social media post on X.

Alabama and Tennessee trailed Mississippi with large increases in Northerners attending their schools. Both have popular sports programs, particularly football.

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Many students have sought out the fun and school spirit that go along with some of the Southern schools, which are known to value sports such as football more. Some feel that Northern schools are too politically involved.

“Some students are saying, ‘I don’t want to be in a super political environment,’ and they are opting into an atmosphere where they can focus on things other than politics,” Colby College sociology professor Neil Gross told the outlet.