Southern Charm: Northern Students Flock to Affordable, Vibrant Southern Universities. A Catholic Angle?

An old friend sent me this article from the Wall Street Journal this morning: Sorry, Harvard. Everyone Wants to Go to College in the South Now. Naturally, being a Southerner myself (transplanted to New Hampshire), I am very interested in this sort of thing. But there is a also a Catholic angle to it, if for no other reason that this is a significant cultural issue, and issues of culture are closely related to religion.

But there is more than that. Aside from the purely cultural connection, there is also an explicitly Catholic demographic consideration. In the last few years, articles about the demise of Catholicism in certain traditionally strong Northern enclaves and its growth in the South have increased in the Catholic and even secular press. Here is an article from 2016, four years before the 2020 census upon which many later such articles were based; it speaks of the growth of the Catholic Church in Tyler, Texas, back in its halcyon days when Bishop Joseph Strickland was its Ordinary. Before His Excellency became persona non grata, there were stories popping up about the growth of the Church in his part of East Texas, and the increased numbers were not driven exclusively by things like demographic changes and immigration; they were, in part, driven by waves of new converts from non-denominational Southern Protestants. Bishop Strickland was actually building new parishes to accommodate them — a big departure from the trends here in the Northeast.

Here are five stories written after the 2020 census. While the data are not conclusive, they do show trends:

• New Study Reveals U.S. Catholics Increasing in Southern States, Decreasing in Northern States
• The rise of South Carolina’s Catholic population
• U.S. Catholic population shows growth, trends southward
• Where Catholics live in the United States, explained in four charts
• The Catholic Church is In Trouble in Places Where it Used to Dominate 

Certainly, God’s grace is not something subject to the laws of demographics. But God’s Providence is at work in history and the demographic changes of peoples and nations — wars, invasions, etc. — have had much to do throughout history with the spread of the Faith.

Back to the Wall Street Journal article (below is an AI-produced bullet-point summary.¹) Financial reasons, including tuition costs, enter heavily into the calculus of many of these Yankee students flocking to the Dixie, but some of them, once transplanted, are discovering and liking the still-different aspects of the South: a more genteel manner, less “wokeness,” etc. If these students can give their minds to things loftier than game-day tailgating cuisine and booze-fueled Greek debauchery, they might experience and become part of the growing Catholicism in the former Confederacy. The literary among them may be attracted to the likes of Flannery O’Connor (“the Hillbilly Thomist”) or Walker Percy.

At the very least, serious Southern Catholics who really cherish the Faith and Tradition, will want to take advantage of the demographic shift for evangelical purposes. Maybe the Catholicism in the Old South will pale in comparison to the Catholicism of the New South, and church spires, monastic cloisters, incense, and Gregorian chant can rise more and more in a chorus of praise among the moss-bearded live oaks and magnolias gracing the Southland.

We can work and pray for that, can’t we?

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• Northern high school students are increasingly choosing Southern universities like Clemson and Georgia Tech due to lower tuition costs, warmer climates, and vibrant campus life.
• Parents favor these options for less student debt and lower tuition, while students seek fun and school spirit highlighted on social media.
• The shift is evident with Northeastern students at Southern schools rising 84% over two decades, and significantly from 2018 to 2022.
• Economic impact is significant as many graduates remain in the Southern state where they study, fueling the local economy with a young, educated work force.
• Southern public universities, often more affordable, are experiencing heightened interest compared to some Ivy League institutions.
• Tuition costs: Southern universities charge lower fees for out-of-state students, with ample scholarships available, making them attractive to cost-conscious families.
• The Southern campus culture includes football and Greek life, drawing Northern students seeking less politically charged environments.
• Southern schools generally rank higher for free speech, contributing to their appeal.
• Growth in Southern enrollment is impacting local economies, generating job opportunities, and fostering regional development, despite some infrastructure challenges.
• The continued trend of Northerners moving South for college showcases an evolving educational and economic landscape in the U.S.

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