The states where students are most and least likely to leave home for college, ranked

As summer's end nears, many young adults — and their soon-to-be-empty-nester parents — are starting to pack up suitcases and buy dorm furniture as they prepare to move away for college.Whether they're looking for specialized degree programs, school prestige, affordable tuition, broader networking opportunities, or a more distinctive campus experience, many students will soon be attending college across state lines from their parents.Enrollment data from the US Department of Education's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System measures the number of first-time degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduate students residing in each state and documents which institutions those students enroll in — and where those institutions are located relative to the student's permanent address at the time of application.The most recent release, documenting the fall of 2024, shows that of the over 2.93 million first-time students across all US states, 562,209, or 19.1%, enrolled at an out-of-state institution.Business Insider also compared out-of-state enrollment rates across state lines and ranked all 50 US states by the share of resident first-time students who enrolled outside their state. Using IPEDS data, we also calculated the most common destination state among residents who enrolled out of state.While the data and our calculations can help show the broader picture of student migration in many states, they do not capture the factors that led each student to enroll out of state, nor do they explicitly reflect how many students are physically moving their primary residence, since IPEDS data also includes online programs that may be located in states other than the student's residence.See where your state ranked and where its out-of-state students most commonly enrolled. 50. California Palo Alto, California yujie chen/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 9.9%Number of resident first-time students: 432,331Number of students leaving: 43,016Top destination: Arizona, with 5,537 students (12.9% of students going out-of-state) 49. Utah Provo City, Utah Brett Taylor/Getty Images/iStockphoto Out-of-state rate: 10.5%Number of resident first-time students: 33,175Number of students leaving: 3,497Top destination: Idaho, with 1,038 students (29.7% of students going out-of-state) 48. Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan Nicholas Klein/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 12.4%Number of resident first-time students: 82,242Number of students leaving: 10,185Top destination: Ohio, with 2,276 students (22.3% of students going out-of-state) 47. Arizona Tempe, Arizona. Kruck20/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 12.8%Number of resident first-time students: 59,989Number of students leaving: 7,695Top destination: California, with 933 students (12.1% of students going out-of-state) 46. Mississippi Hattiesburg, Mississippi CRobertson/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 13.2%Number of resident first-time students: 24,451Number of students leaving: 3,222Top destination: Alabama, with 614 students (19.1% of students going out-of-state) 45. Florida Gainesville, Florida 6381380/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 13.3%Number of resident first-time students: 179,229Number of students leaving: 23,780Top destination: Georgia, with 2,220 students (9.3% of students going out-of-state) 44. Oklahoma Tulsa, Oklahoma GummyBone/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 14.1%Number of resident first-time students: 35,946Number of students leaving: 5,082Top destination: Kansas, with 1,008 students (19.8% of students going out-of-state) 43. Texas Austin, Texas Jacob Boomsma/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 14.2%Number of resident first-time students: 294,363Number of students leaving: 41,772Top destination: Oklahoma, with 4,796 students (11.5% of students going out-of-state) 42. Alabama Auburn, Alabama Jacob Boomsma/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 14.2%Number of resident first-time students: 40,085Number of students leaving: 5,701Top destination: Mississippi, with 935 students (16.4% of students going out-of-state) 41. Louisiana Baton Rouge, Louisiana CrackerClips/Getty Images/iStockphoto Out-of-state rate: 14.8%Number of resident first-time students: 41,892Number of students leaving: 6,186Top destination: Mississippi, with 1,090 students (17.6% of students going out-of-state) 40. Iowa Iowa City, Iowa GummyBone/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 15.4%Number of resident first-time students: 26,979Number of students leaving: 4,144Top destination: South Dakota, with 529 students (12.8% of students going out-of-state) 39. North Carolina Winston-Salem, North Carolina Kruck20/Getty Images/iStockphoto Out-of-state rate: 15.5%Number of resident first-time students: 83,293Number of students leaving: 12,920Top destination: Virginia, with 1,953 students (15.1% of students going out-of-state) 38. Ohio Columbus, Ohio espiegle/Getty Images/iStockphoto Out-of-state rate: 15.8%Number of resident first-time students: 95,533Number of students leaving: 15,141Top destination: Indiana, with 1,769 students (11.7% of students going out-of-state) 37. Indiana Bloomington, Indiana Wirestock/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 16.6%Number of resident first-time students: 56,069Number of students leaving: 9,288Top destination: Ohio, with 1,851 students (19.9% of students going out-of-state) 36. Kentucky Lexington, Kentucky Ivelin Denev/Getty Images/iStockphoto Out-of-state rate: 16.8%Number of resident first-time students: 38,910Number of students leaving: 6,535Top destination: Ohio, with 1,411 students (21.6% of students going out-of-state) 35. New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico Aaron Seltzer/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 17.1%Number of resident first-time students: 17,756Number of students leaving: 3,028Top destination: Texas, with 586 students (19.4% of students going out-of-state) 34. South Carolina Spartanburg, South Carolina Kruck20/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 17.2%Number of resident first-time students: 42,179Number of students leaving: 7,236Top destination: North Carolina, with 1,671 students (23.1% of students going out-of-state) 33. Arkansas Little Rock, Arkansas. Rdlamkin/Getty Images/iStockphoto Out-of-state rate: 17.2%Number of resident first-time students: 22,786Number of students leaving: 3,921Top destination: Missouri, with 475 students (12.1% of students going out-of-state) 32. Kansas Wichita, Kansas Jacob Boomsma/Getty Images/iStockphoto Out-of-state rate: 17.5%Number of resident first-time students: 26,488Number of students leaving: 4,633Top destination: Missouri, with 1,286 students (27.8% of students going out-of-state) 31. West Virginia Morgantown, West Virginia BackyardProduction/Getty Images/iStockphoto Out-of-state rate: 19.2%Number of resident first-time students: 12,314Number of students leaving: 2,359Top destination: Ohio, with 529 students (22.4% of students going out-of-state) 30. Nebraska Kearney, Nebraska Aaron Seltzer/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 19.6%Number of resident first-time students: 18,209Number of students leaving: 3,564Top destination: Iowa, with 680 students (19.1% of students going out-of-state) 29. Tennessee Nashville, Tennessee Bilanol/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 20.0%Number of resident first-time students: 58,199Number of students leaving: 11,667Top destination: Alabama, with 1,591 students (13.6% of students going out-of-state) 28. Georgia Athens, Georgia Sean Pavone/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 20.1%Number of resident first-time students: 98,471Number of students leaving: 19,835Top destination: Alabama, with 3,475 students (17.5% of students going out-of-state) 27. Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin Ultima_Gaina/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 20.3%Number of resident first-time students: 46,503Number of students leaving: 9,420Top destination: Minnesota, with 2,781 students (29.5% of students going out-of-state) 26. Oregon Corvallis, Oregon Jacob Boomsma/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 21.2%Number of resident first-time students: 30,818Number of students leaving: 6,526Top destination: Washington, with 1,101 students (16.9% of students going out-of-state) 25. Virginia Richmond, Virginia Wirestock/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 21.4%Number of resident first-time students: 76,703Number of students leaving: 16,448Top destination: North Carolina, with 1,627 students (9.9% of students going out-of-state) 24. New York New York, New York. SeanPavonePhoto/Getty Images/iStockphoto Out-of-state rate: 21.9%Number of resident first-time students: 170,412Number of students leaving: 37,301Top destination: Pennsylvania, with 5,091 students (13.6% of students going out-of-state) 23. Missouri Columbia, Missouri Sean Pavone/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 22.6%Number of resident first-time students: 46,624Number of students leaving: 10,555Top destination: Kansas, with 2,186 students (20.7% of students going out-of-state) 22. Pennsylvania Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Kyle Little/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 22.6%Number of resident first-time students: 100,007Number of students leaving: 22,644Top destination: New York, with 2,642 students (11.7% of students going out-of-state) 21. Idaho Boise, Idaho christiannafzger/Getty Images/iStockphoto Out-of-state rate: 23.8%Number of resident first-time students: 15,636Number of students leaving: 3,716Top destination: Utah, with 1,106 students (29.8% of students going out-of-state) 20. Nevada Reno, Nevada OwensImaging/Getty Images/iStockphoto Out-of-state rate: 24.6%Number of resident first-time students: 23,982Number of students leaving: 5,906Top destination: California, with 964 students (16.3% of students going out-of-state) 19. Maine Portland, Maine Sean Pavone/Getty Images/iStockphoto Out-of-state rate: 25.0%Number of resident first-time students: 11,004Number of students leaving: 2,750Top destination: Massachusetts, with 658 students (23.9% of students going out-of-state) 18. Washington Seattle, Washington SEASTOCK/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 25.1%Number of resident first-time students: 59,429Number of students leaving: 14,894Top destination: California, with 2,344 students (15.7% of students going out-of-state) 17. South Dakota Rapid City, South Dakota Ultima_Gaina/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 25.2%Number of resident first-time students: 7,298Number of students leaving: 1,840Top destination: Minnesota, with 319 students (17.3% of students going out-of-state) 16. North Dakota Grand Forks, North Dakota Jacob Boomsma/Getty Images/iStockphoto Out-of-state rate: 25.9%Number of resident first-time students: 6,156Number of students leaving: 1,596Top destination: Minnesota, with 785 students (49.2% of students going out-of-state) 15. Colorado Boulder, Colorado Jacob Boomsma/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 27.6%Number of resident first-time students: 49,104Number of students leaving: 13,561Top destination: Arizona, with 1,613 students (11.9% of students going out-of-state) 14. Montana Bozeman, Montana Jacob Boomsma/Getty Images/iStockphoto Out-of-state rate: 27.9%Number of resident first-time students: 7,316Number of students leaving: 2,042Top destination: North Dakota, with 211 students (10.3% of students going out-of-state) 13. Wyoming Laramie. Wyoming Wirestock/Getty Images/iStockphoto Out-of-state rate: 28.4%Number of resident first-time students: 4,688Number of students leaving: 1,333Top destination: Utah, with 229 students (17.2% of students going out-of-state) 12. Minnesota St. Cloud, Minnesota Jacob Boomsma/Getty Images/iStockphoto Out-of-state rate: 30.5%Number of resident first-time students: 53,053Number of students leaving: 16,172Top destination: Wisconsin, with 3,494 students (21.6% of students going out-of-state) 11. Illinois Chicago, Illinois Jacob Boomsma/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 31.3%Number of resident first-time students: 111,509Number of students leaving: 34,903Top destination: Wisconsin, with 4,183 students (12% of students going out-of-state) 10. Rhode Island Providence, Rhode Island Wirestock/Getty Images/iStockphoto Out-of-state rate: 32.1%Number of resident first-time students: 9,213Number of students leaving: 2,954Top destination: Massachusetts, with 962 students (32.6% of students going out-of-state) 9. Massachusetts Cambridge, Massachusetts tupungato/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 33.5%Number of resident first-time students: 63,392Number of students leaving: 21,260Top destination: Rhode Island, with 2,716 students (12.8% of students going out-of-state) 8. Maryland Annapolis, Maryland ChrisBoswell/Getty Images/iStockphoto Out-of-state rate: 33.9%Number of resident first-time students: 54,599Number of students leaving: 18,506Top destination: Pennsylvania, with 3,228 students (17.4% of students going out-of-state) 7. Delaware Newark, Delaware Kirkikis/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 34.4%Number of resident first-time students: 9,209Number of students leaving: 3,166Top destination: Pennsylvania, with 1,043 students (32.9% of students going out-of-state) 6. New Jersey Princeton, New Jersey Wirestock/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 35.6%Number of resident first-time students: 95,646Number of students leaving: 34,070Top destination: Pennsylvania, with 7,672 students (22.5% of students going out-of-state) 5. Connecticut New Haven, Connecticut f11photo/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 38.4%Number of resident first-time students: 35,699Number of students leaving: 13,699Top destination: Massachusetts, with 2,738 students (20% of students going out-of-state) 4. Hawaii Honolulu, Hawaii Eric Broder Van Dyke/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 38.9%Number of resident first-time students: 10,296Number of students leaving: 4,000Top destination: California, with 862 students (21.6% of students going out-of-state) 3. Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska Jacob Boomsma/Getty Images/iStockphoto Out-of-state rate: 42.2%Number of resident first-time students: 4,303Number of students leaving: 1,817Top destination: Arizona, with 222 students (12.2% of students going out-of-state) 2. New Hampshire Greenville, New Hampshire BackyardProduction/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 46.2%Number of resident first-time students: 10,094Number of students leaving: 4,663Top destination: Massachusetts, with 1,419 students (30.4% of students going out-of-state) 1. Vermont Stowe, Vermont BackyardProduction/Getty Images Out-of-state rate: 53.3%Number of resident first-time students: 3,865Number of students leaving: 2,060Top destination: New York, with 406 students (19.7% of students going out-of-state)