I am doing some research among high schoolers and mostly just trying to find out what people are looking for in a college. i am finding that it has less to do with location and more to do educational goals.
In a tough economic time people are looking to specialize a lot more. When looking for colleges people are looking at these things which I find really interesting.
1. Availability of Financial Aid
2. Educational Programs
3. Location and Nightlife
Something I hadn't considered is how the economy will effect high schoolers going to college. If College Financial Aid dries up then we can expect to see a lot of folks not attending college and attending more trade schools, and thus seeing a decline in programs at big schools as well.