States with Highest Percentage of High School Students that Leave

The state rankings was determined as part of a larger Niche study of 350,000 high school graduates entitled “Going Away To College“. The states are ranked based on the percentage of high school graduates in each state that attend an out-of-state college. Click to view the full results of the study or the full methodology for determining the ranking.

Here is the full list of states with links to each state’s profile on Niche:

Vermont, 64%

New Hampshire, 58%

Connecticut, 52%

Delaware, 51%

New Jersey, 51%

Wyoming, 50%

Rhode Island, 47%

Maine, 44%

Maryland, 42%

Massachusetts, 40%

Illinois, 39%

Minnesota, 39%

Nevada, 39%

Washington, 37%

North Dakota, 34%

Colorado, 32%

Oregon, 32%

Idaho, 31%

New York, 30%

Missouri, 28%

Montana, 28%

South Dakota, 28%

Iowa, 26%

Kansas, 26%

Virginia, 26%

Wisconsin, 26%

Arizona, 25%

Nebraska, 25%

New Mexico, 25%

California, 24%

Georgia, 23%

Tennessee, 23%

Mississippi, 22%

Ohio, 22%

Pennsylvania, 22%

Florida, 20%

Michigan, 20%

North Carolina, 20%

Kentucky, 18%

Louisiana, 18%

South Carolina, 18%

Utah, 18%

Alabama, 17%

Indiana, 17%

Oklahoma, 17%

Texas, 17%

West Virginia, 17%

Arkansas, 16%