Current and future
college
students are increasingly accounting for a
state’s political climate
, especially on
abortion
, when choosing where to go to college, according to a spate of recent surveys.
A
March study
by the Baltimore-based consulting firm Art & Science Group found that 1 in 4 students have ruled out attending a university because of the political or legal climate of its location.
TOP ANTI-ABORTION ORGANIZATION CALLS OUT TRUMP FOR ‘MORALLY INDEFENSIBLE POSITION’
Conservative students, the study found, were less likely to want to attend a college in New York or California, while liberal students eschewed institutions in Florida, Texas, Alabama, and Louisiana. Notably, 32% of respondents said they would not attend a college in their home state due to the political climate.
The primary driver of the phenomenon may be abortion because numerous Republican-controlled states have passed laws restricting or completely outlawing abortion.
A
study
from Gallup and the Lumina Foundation released Thursday found that 72% of current college students reported that “access to reproductive health services” in the state was a factor in whether or not they chose to remain enrolled at their current institution.
For students who are not currently enrolled, 60% of respondents said that “access to reproductive health services” in a given state was a consideration in whether or not they would enroll in a college.
The number was even higher for younger students, with 73% of adults aged 18-24 indicating that a state’s abortion laws were at least “somewhat important” when considering whether or not to enroll at a specific college.
There was a minimal gender gap, with 62% of women and 57% of men not enrolled in college saying they were considering attending a school based on the abortion laws of the state where the school is located.
