Determinants of College Student Migration

In a recent article, Professors Campbell and Siegel use aggregate enrollment data and price and income variables to explain movements in the demand for education over time [1]. Price and income variables can also be used to explain interstate migration. A simple economic model accounts for about 54% of the variation among states in the proportion of students leaving their home state to attend college. Adjusting the out-migration data to take into account the enrollment opportunities within the state, we find that the amount of variation explained increases to 64%. These results are interesting, especially given the paucity of explanatory models in this area.