By Mackenzie Acker

Editor-in-Chief

    In the years following the Civil War, many Americans moved hastily from the northern United States to the South. Named “Carpetbaggers” after their cheap bags holding few possessions, they were regarded by many Southerners as corrupt, taking advantage of the defeated South. These migrants were driven by economic opportunity and visions of reform. To them, the land was moldable—a society they could rebuild into the image of the North. But today, as northerners move to the South more than ever, Northern enclaves have already been built for them: Southern universities.   

    In the past decade, Southern universities have received record numbers of out-of-state applicants. Schools in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) have experienced this the most, with an increase in applicants from New England and the Midwest, and other urban centers. The draw to these schools is expansive: promising warm weather, academics, and big-time football. The South’s economic growth has also enticed students.

    “Historically, people used to talk about the Mason-Dixon line like it was a real thing, you know?” Aaron Marlowe-Rogers, a college consultant and former Wake Forest Senior Associate Dean of Admissions, said. “That northerners were northerners and southerners were southerners, and we lived different lives.”

    Population growth and expanding industries in cities like Charlotte and Atlanta have made the region nationally appealing, and country music and viral Alabama sorority recruitment have made Southern culture increasingly familiar. 

Marlowe-Rogers also points to another pressure: Many selective Northern universities have not substantially expanded their class sizes, even as the number of applicants has grown. The University of South Carolina, Clemson, and Georgia—schools that New Englanders once scoffed at—have become common in Northern students’ college lists.

    However, Marlowe-Rogers’ alma mater, Wake Forest, has been absent from reporting on these demographic shifts. Smaller, private southern schools have not experienced as large an influx of Northerners as their state school neighbors. But this is likely because private schools have already been saturated with Northern students since their inception.

    “Wake Forest is definitely a beneficiary of all of this stuff too,” Marlowe-Rogers said. “But Wake Forest, Duke, Vanderbilt, Davidson, Emory—those are the stickers that have been on the backs of cars in New York City and Greenwich, Connecticut, for decades.”

    So are these two trends related? Are Northerners attracted to the southern colleges because of their distinct culture, or because of their familiarity? And are these universities merely located in the South, or are they selling an idea of their southern culture?

Winston-Salem 

    “There are more traditional values down here,” Wake Forest sophomore Walter Crosby said. “People are nicer. You go to a diner; they learn you’re from the North; they give you an extra biscuit.”

    Crosby is from Barrington, Rhode Island, and flies into Winston-Salem at the start of each semester. He posed his ideas on why Northerners are attracted to colleges in the region.

     “The values are more based in morality and also personal liberty,” Crosby said. “I think that’s something that the South has maintained a good grasp on while the North has fallen away from. They’re kind of going insane right now, whereas the South has been very mild-mannered in what they put in the law and how people live.”

    At his Rhode Island high school, Crosby was a block away from Brown University. For him, attending college in the South offered an alternative to the environment he associated with an elite Northern university. Additionally, he hoped to experience a new culture, one hinged on sweet tea and good manners. However, students from the South report finding a new culture at the university: one that’s not Southern.

    “‘It’s just so southern here’ is what a freshman said to me the other day,” Wake Forest sophomore Charlotte Hubbard said. “But in my opinion, everyone around me is super Northern.”

    A graduate of R.J. Reynolds High School and Winston-Salem native, Hubbard was surprised to encounter such a metropolitan atmosphere at Wake Forest. Her freshman year, Hubbard struggled with the dynamic.

    “It’s hard when everyone’s from LA, New York, Connecticut,” Hubbard said. “You just kind of feel like an outsider, even though they’re not all from the same state. They all have these mutual connections.”

    This is a common pattern among many prestigious schools, including Wake Forest’s private school peers. Students come from wealthy backgrounds and big cities. However, Hubbard believes the university reinforces the dynamic through its recruitment efforts.

    “They know that so many of their students are from these super, super wealthy Northern big cities, and they just kind of indulge in that,” Hubbard said. “A lot of them are coming here because it feels Southern, and so they’re playing their cards exactly right. They want it to feel Southern, but they’re catering to these kids’ exact needs.”

    What qualifies as a university “catering” to Northerners can be vague. Improving the campus or advancing an academic program doesn’t mean that the schools are selling tickets to the high schoolers from Massachusetts, but Hubbard argues that is exactly what the admissions office does.

    “Here’s an example: they host all of these meetings for incoming freshmen,” Hubbard said. “And they had one for all of North Carolina that pooled like three other Southern states. But, then in Massachusetts, they’ll have eight different meetings, and they’ll make it this huge deal and play it up a lot more.”

    This orchestration can further contribute to the isolation that students from southern areas feel. However, other students argue that this idea is overplayed.

    “I didn’t apply here for the Southern ideals,” Wake Forest sophomore Archit Palit said. “I applied for the people, academics, all that. And I get that geographically it is in the South, but the kids are mainly from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut.”

    The Wake Forest admissions office also attributes Wake Forest’s national appeal to factors beyond geography, citing academic excellence. They are also making an outward effort to increase equity for local students.

    “While we have seen an increase in applications over the past several years, about 18% of this year’s incoming first-year class comes from North Carolina,” Dean of Admissions Karen Vargas said. “We launched the Gateway Initiative last year, and that has increased applications from in-state students.”

    Wake Forest’s Gateway Initiative guarantees tuition-free attendance for North Carolina students from families earning under $200,000 annually with typical assets, beginning in fall 2026. The program offers additional financial aid at multiple income levels.