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[quote=Anonymous][quote]

Anonymous wrote:
I imagine 98% of students choose school's first from the region where they live, or from those that friends and family members attended.

This is an interesting statement. Our son is not at a college that anyone in the family or any friend has ever attended. It is also not in the local region of our home. So I guess we are in the 2%?? We never had the expectation that he would go to one of our alma maters or follow anyone else. He picked his school based on what he wanted out of a school. I would be interested in knowing if we are "odd" in this respect or if others on this forum picked schools based on the merits of the school itself and not on its regional location or on the fact that family/friends had gone there. BTW he chose a school that none of us had ever heard of before. Amazing, huh?

This page has some stats from the Chronicle of Higher Ed on the % of students in each state attending their own states' schools. For VA it is 74%. Most of the states are over 50%. I would guess that if you add in neighboring states (VA kids going to North Carolina or MD) you'd increase a lot from that 74%. It also notes that a survey found only 15% of freshmen attend a college more than 500 miles from home. So yes, your child is the minority in going to another region for college.

http://www.thecollegesolution.com/where-most-students-end-up-attending-college/

My kids aren't in college yet but I did attend a public university in my own state, one usually ranked among the top "regional" universities in my area. I had a great experience there and the cost was very reasonable so I graduated with no debt. I was introduced to it by my dad, who liked to recruit new grads from there, and I liked the relatively small size, focus on undergrad educations vs. graduate teaching/research, the location, and strong internship program. I've had a great career - and no trouble getting into and doing well in grad school - and don't feel I was in any way hindered by not spending a crapload of money on an Ivy league degree (I was accepted at U of Penn). We live in VA and my kids know that we will pay for 4 years at a VA state college. If they want to go somewhere else that would require them to go into debt then we'll have to talk seriously about how much debt and what benefits they think they'd gain from that and if it is really worthwhile. But, the only way I can imagine it being worthwhile is for some super-specialized program that really fits a particular passion of theirs and that leads to a lucrative career. [b]Going into debt purely for surface things like perceived status, name recognition, or you just love the campus is not worth it IMO[/b].[/quote]

PP here.  The school my son chose does not have huge name recognition and was not chosen for "surface things".  We are not those kind of people.  He is not going into debt because it is not an expensive school---in fact the assistance (mostly merit) he got brings it down to close to in state tuition.  And he likes the campus so it's worth it.  Going farther away to school does not automatically mean you are paying more.  This all depends on your income, your child's ability to generate scholarship or merit money, etc.  [/quote]

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