“Because, on the whole, they’re run better”
College-admissions experts note that the rise in these schools’ popularity has allowed them to become more selective, boosting their prestige even further among high-school students.
From 2014 to 2024, the last full year for available admissions data, Auburn University’s freshman-class acceptance rate decreased from 85% to 46%; Clemson University’s dropped from 52% to 38%.
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The trend line holds even for the South’s most selective colleges: Rice University’s acceptance rate dipped from 14% to 8%; Emory University’s, from 26% to 15%.
By contrast, elite Northeastern universities have only been able to maintain their enrollments by taking in more foreign students.
Why are young people are flocking to Southern universities?
