Harvard Rejects Are Alive and Well Down South

The elite universities of the Northeast are failing local students. That much is clear in the growing numbers of young people leaving for Southern colleges, which have spent time and money becoming more desirable to this underserved population.

Applications to the best Northeast universities far outstrip the available spots, spurring some of the best and brightest students in states such as New York and Massachusetts to study outside the region. Many of these young people will end up using their skills to drive economic growth elsewhere. This trend in higher education should concern those focused on issues such as affordable housing — the number of slots at desirable local universities is as much a bottleneck for a family’s opportunities and a region’s prosperity as the cost and availability of homes.