When creating our list, we had already ruled a lot of states out due to this sort of issue. We left FL in play, and did apply there. That said, I mentally threw in the towel on colleges in FL after the New College of Florida situation. D23 has two good offers in FL, but they’re no longer being considered. The schools are good ones, but I just don’t want to send her into that environment. There are too many other places to go.
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This was also a no-brainer for us on Florida, but it’s the cheapest option and the most selective admittance he got, so it hurts in many ways.
That said, we still have South Carolina, Alabama and Louisiana colleges on the list, so it feels very unsettled to me. I feel like Florida is a special case b/c of the governor’s actions. But I also think it wouldn’t take much for one or more of the other states to be right behind him, and I don’t know how to assess that for the next four years.
So maybe they all come off based on that? I mean, it was significant enough to knock Florida off, so the threat of it should count for something, right?
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I don’t know. Minnesota has voted blue in every presedential election since 1976, more times consecutively than any other state. Yes there are some loud outstate voices that regularly get picked up by news sources, but as a current resident I actually think the stuff that comes up is fairly easy to read/predict. Both branches of our state legislature went blue this last election. The metro is very LGBTQ friendly, one of my kids identifies as such. That said, not trying to convince anyone either. The weather seems to be the biggest deterrent on students coming long distance to college here.
I will say this was also a big thought proces for my kid applying this year. Texas, Ohio, Indiana, Florida and Tennessee were a hard no even though there were some potentially very good options in those states for academic goals. But everyone has their own comfort levels. And frankly, you have to draw a line somewhere. That immediately made our list much easier to manage. So even though I think some of these would be totally fine on a campus/near a metro, I didn’t try too hard to change this kid’s thinking on it.
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I would argue that political party preferences are minimally determinative for this, however (though more so than even 10 years ago). Alaska, for one, is a pretty reliable Republican vote, but its sociopolitical policies aren’t what you would nearly automatically expect from that. Similarly, Minnesota is a pretty reliable Democratic vote, but its higher-ed policies are, at least from the perspective of faculty, much much less than good.
Oh, I’m interested in this. What are faculty noticing in MN?
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Threats to faculty control of curriculum, policies that increase administrative power over faculty hiring and evaluation at the expense of faculty voices, increased meddling by political partisans in curricular offerings and decisions.
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities has been strong enough to resist it (especially after the attempts at “reforming” the system fell with a thud in the 90s), but less so at other campuses (including other UM system campuses).
But according to friends I have up there, the recent DEI controversy at Hamline, of all places, may have in a weird way put some of these threats on pause, because there’s suddenly a recognition that it’s really, really hard to predict the results of any decisions around DEI issues, and that quick knee-jerk reactions aren’t a good idea.
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Our daughter only considered schools in long time blue states and is headed to New England for school. Gotta narrow the list down somehow!
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Interesting. We happen to know a lot of higher ed faculty in Minnesota. Primarily twin cities though. And we’ve heard complaints of various things/issues over the years, but not this specifically. Guess I’ll keep my ears perked.
U of MN is having funding issues right now. Again. Sigh.
Everyone we know in academia fell on one side of the Hamline debacle. Most of humanity for that matter.
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I had heard about the food! D23 will literally eat anything so it doesn’t really matter to her. Now S25…he’ll probably have to interview the kitchen staff before choosing a school!
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West coast—and I mean the coastal areas of the west coast— and the northeast were it for us. Even some good Midwest programs got eliminated early. Just not safe out there for some young people.
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How are you all feeling about Ohio?
I have a daughter in school in Ohio. I think the school has a lot to do with it. She’s somewhere that has a large LGBTQ+ community and by all accounts they feel safe and welcome. The school is active in creating an environment that is inclusive so if that’s not what you’re looking for you probably would say they are too woke for you. The Dobbs decision was hard, but the law in Ohio is similar to the law in our state so it isn’t a deal breaker (and she was already in school when Dobbs happened…maybe she would have looked elsewhere had that not been the case.)
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D19 is finishing up in OH. We are somewhat happy she will be getting out before it might get too crazy. D23 will be in MI.
Cost and fit still play a bigger role in the decision than the state. That being said FL would be off limits.
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My son will probably attend school in Ohio. Good fit and merit. I probably would discourage a daughter from going there though.
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Another nice thing about Ohio for OOS students, you can go to Graduate school in Ohio for instate rates if you earned your full 4 yr degree at an Ohio school. The are super proactive in trying to get students to remain in the state. My DD will have earned an M.Arch in 5 yrs plus a summer session, cheaper than a B’Arch would have costs instate for her.
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Seriously, how have some of these schools not even announced a decision date yet? It’s so mean.
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Such a joke at this point. I feel for everyone waiting.
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I wish they would just say April 1st - at least then I could stop checking.
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Who are you waiting for? A bunch just announced for today, tomorrow and Sat
I don’t want to say publicly which school it is, but I’m sure there are others in the same position so I’ll keep my message universal.
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