Students from the Northeast are increasingly setting their sights on Southern universities, captivated by campuses that boast warm weather, a vibrant football culture, and active Greek life.
In a shift from the traditional pursuit of Ivy League education, a growing number of students are now gravitating towards institutions within the Southeastern Conference (SEC). This prestigious conference, featuring 16 schools such as the University of South Carolina (USC), the University of Alabama, the University of Mississippi, and the University of Tennessee, is gaining popularity, according to a report by The Sunday Times.
From 2014 to 2023, SEC universities experienced a remarkable 91% rise in undergraduate enrollments from northeastern states, as highlighted by government data referenced in The Sunday Times.
The University of South Carolina alone reported a 90% increase in this demographic over the same timeframe.
Students at USC celebrated in the Thomas Cooper Library reflecting pool after the Gamecocks triumphed over the Iowa Hawkeyes in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship on April 7, 2024, in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
This year, USC hit a milestone with an enrollment exceeding 40,000 students. The number of out-of-state students, especially those from the Northeast, surged by 58% over the past decade, contributing to an overall 46% growth in the student body, according to The Sunday Times.
The largest pipelines are from North Carolina, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, The Sunday Times reported.
“All my friends are from [New] Jersey, [Philadelphia], New York, Maryland,” Sean Carroll, a 21-year-old USC senior from New York, told The Sunday Times. “People always ask me, ‘was it a culture shock?’ but there’s so many people from the north that you don’t even realize you’re in South Carolina. It’s just so trendy.”
Carroll, a member of USC’s Chi Psi fraternity, said only ten of its 200 members are from south of Virginia.
Students and their families move belongings into a campus dormitory at the University of South Carolina on Aug. 10, 2020, in Columbia, South Carolina. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
“Northern fraternities hang with northern fraternities, southern with southern,” Carroll told The Sunday Times. “Even the tailgate lots are divided.”
Meanwhile, Cameron McManus, a high school senior from the Washington, D.C., suburbs, recently told Fortune Magazine he had been eyeing Clemson University, USC or the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after seeing TikTok and Instagram videos featuring sports, Greek life and warm weather.
“You can be outside all months of the year,” McManus said.
Since 2019, applications to Southern colleges have risen 50%, compared to less than 30% for schools in New England and the mid-Atlantic, Fortune Magazine reported, citing Common Application data.
Views around the campus of the University of Tennessee on Sept. 30, 2023 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
The rise stems from the growing appeal of Southern schools and tougher competition for the nation’s most elite universities, as students now apply to more colleges than ever, according to Fortune Magazine.
As competition intensifies, some Southern states have moved to preserve access for local students. Clemson’s acceptance rate has fallen from 52% to 38% in a decade, The Sunday Times reported.
North Carolina now caps out-of-state enrollment at 18%, while Texas offers guaranteed admission to its public universities for the top 10% of high school graduates, according to The Sunday Times.
USC, SEC and a spokesperson for the New England Board of Higher Education did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
