Will colleges in pro-life states see declining enrolment post Dobbs?

[Anonymous]

I wasn’t sure whether to post this here or the college section but decided to err on the side of caution.

So the midterms proved that gen-z are highly passionate about abortion rights. My question is will kids who have the financial and practical option to do so op not to attend the previously popular schools like Rice, Vanderbilt or Oberlin that are in pro life states?

I heard the argument that kids could just return to their parents state to get abortions if need be. However 18-21 year olds want to spread their wings and be independent. I was close to my parents but I didn’t tell them about sexual encounters that I had or every gynaecological appointment I made. There are boundaries! Also in emergency situations like an ectopic pregnancy or rape or complications in the 2nd or 3rd trimester of a wanted pregnancy, it might not be practical to travel beyond your local hospital. Young women might want to have the peace of mind that they will be covered in whatever college state they choose.

Is the residential system at Rice THAT good that no other college in a pro-choice state equals it?

Can any parents of High school or older kids who are applying to college now or the near future comment on if this is a factor for them at all?

[Anonymous]

There are several threads on this from the Spring. The general consensus was for families who are pro-life, no, for families who are pro-choice, maybe.

[Anonymous]

I know an awful lot of women in pro-life families who have had an abortion. I am a Catholic since birth and send my kids to Catholic school. My goal is rare, safe, and legal.

[Anonymous]

Enrollment won’t decline, but balance of students might shift. For example, maybe a school in Texas usually has 2000 applicants from the Northeast, but now will only get 1000 applicants. Is the pool of who applied still balanced demographically, or does it skew male and white? If the school wants to maintain the same proportion of incoming class coming from the Northeast, does that mean they admit applicants with lower SAT/GPAs than previously?

[Anonymous]

Since girls, on average, perform stronger academically than boys, would the US news ranking be affected by declining female enrolment? Also, would a college be financially hit by a decline of full pay out of state and UMC families with options?

[Anonymous]

Maybe. Only time will tell, and the trend will probably increase as pro choice college age women have bad experiences in the conservative states.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe. Only time will tell, and the trend will probably increase as pro choice college age women have bad experiences in the conservative states.

My DS cut all anti-Abortion states from her list. Of course, she’d pretty much excluded the same states due to lack of gun safety measures. That’s gonna be the next issue to take GOP down.

[Anonymous]

I would not pay for my daughter to attend school in a state where she could be left to die of an infection in an emergency room, nor for my son to go to school where a youthful error could lead to 18 years of child support payments.

But college students are adults and they could theoretically feel differently than I do, in which case they can pay for school themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe. Only time will tell, and the trend will probably increase as pro choice college age women have bad experiences in the conservative states.

My DS cut all anti-Abortion states from her list. Of course, she’d pretty much excluded the same states due to lack of gun safety measures. That’s gonna be the next issue to take GOP down.

Mine had basically already done the same due to the anti-LGBTQ+ nonsense

Although she wants to make an exception for WVU for some reason…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would not pay for my daughter to attend school in a state where she could be left to die of an infection in an emergency room, nor for my son to go to school where a youthful error could lead to 18 years of child support payments.

But college students are adults and they could theoretically feel differently than I do, in which case they can pay for school themselves.

Just because abortion is legal in a state does not mean that unmarried women will be forced to get abortions. Your son's "youthful error" could lead to 18 years of child support payments if the woman he impregnates CHOOSES to keep the baby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not pay for my daughter to attend school in a state where she could be left to die of an infection in an emergency room, nor for my son to go to school where a youthful error could lead to 18 years of child support payments.

But college students are adults and they could theoretically feel differently than I do, in which case they can pay for school themselves.

Just because abortion is legal in a state does not mean that unmarried women will be forced to get abortions. Your son's "youthful error" could lead to 18 years of child support payments if the woman he impregnates CHOOSES to keep the baby.

+1 Better watch out for those "youthful errors." Stay sober and be careful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not pay for my daughter to attend school in a state where she could be left to die of an infection in an emergency room, nor for my son to go to school where a youthful error could lead to 18 years of child support payments.

But college students are adults and they could theoretically feel differently than I do, in which case they can pay for school themselves.

Just because abortion is legal in a state does not mean that unmarried women will be forced to get abortions. Your son's "youthful error" could lead to 18 years of child support payments if the woman he impregnates CHOOSES to keep the baby.

+1 All these women who think only they should be in charge of their bodies aren't thinking about if their sons make a "youthful error."
"

[Anonymous]

I have a senior in high school applying for colleges now. I am in a large Facebook group for parents of soon-to-be college students. There are posts all the time from parents who say their kid won't apply to schools in Texas or they won't apply to schools in the South, not just for abortion rights but also because their kids are gay or trans, etc. We crossed Ohio State off our list because of the abortion laws in Ohio. Having said that, I have a kid in college in Florida (honestly didn't give the state's politics much thought back in 2019).

Whether it will have a real effect on college enrollment, I don't know, but parents and kids are definitely considering it.

[Anonymous]

Most universities get students from in state and surrounding states. Enrollment is booming to the point of housing crisis at a lot of universities especially Texas, Florida, and Tennessee. I don’t see applications to Vanderbilt going down either. Perhaps the percentage of students from out of state/the Northeast abs West Coast will go down, but those are a relatively small number of students for those schools. Schools also recruit internationally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most universities get students from in state and surrounding states. Enrollment is booming to the point of housing crisis at a lot of universities especially Texas, Florida, and Tennessee. I don’t see applications to Vanderbilt going down either. Perhaps the percentage of students from out of state/the Northeast abs West Coast will go down, but those are a relatively small number of students for those schools. Schools also recruit internationally.

Yes that is a good point. Even if some data suggests one quarter of college students will only consider attending college in a state where abortion is legal - overall numbers of college students in women unfree states are unlikely to have their overall numbers impacted. It may impact the quality of their applicants though.


https://www.intelligent.com/1-in-4-wont-attend-college-in-state-with-abortion-ban/

Key takeaways:
* 26% of prospective college students will only consider attending college in a state where abortion is legal
* More women than men say they will only attend a college in a state where abortion is legal (31% vs. 20%)
* Top reasons for prospective students not wanting to attend college in a state where abortion is illegal are a belief in bodily autonomy and a desire for abortion access
* 66% of prospective students will consider attending college in any state; the top reason is not wanting to limit their choices
* 53% of prospective college students identify as pro-choice
* 58% of women vs. 46% of men identify as pro-choice
One-quarter of prospective students won’t attend college in state that bans abortion