The University of … Tennessee? Adam Whitney, a student at Boston Latin School, had never really thought about it. But his college admissions coach suggested it, and the application was free, and even though when he got in, he didn’t really care, a friend home on break from the University of Alabama gave him some scholarly advice that was hard to ignore.

“Yo, you got to go,” his former varsity hockey teammate said, painting a picture of the rollicking social scene at big football schools like Bama or UT. “You will have the best time of your life,” he said.

Y’all!

For much of American history, ambitious Southerners came north for their education. Now, a growing number of students are enthusiastically heading in the other direction .

They’re going for a variety of reasons, including: th

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