Red state colleges face an abortion headache

A growing number of female college applicants may seek to avoid going to school in states where abortion is banned or severely restricted.

While the long-term impacts of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in 2022 overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling on college enrolment around the U.S. remain to be seen, research, polls and reports are already showing that an increasing number of young women are factoring in abortion laws when making decisions about where to apply to college.

It was a consideration for some female applicants even before Roe's demise, according to research recently published in the journal Economic Letters.