Ala-DAMN-A: State legislation vs. higher ed recruitment

Yesterday, the Alabama legislature passed a bill that effectively bans abortion in the state (it includes an exception for cases when the mother’s life is at serious risk, but not for cases of rape or incest), becoming the most restrictive legislation to be sent to the governor’s desk since Ohio’s “Heartbeat bill.”

Not only does the bill ban the act of abortion, it also criminalizes the procedure for doctors who perform it, who would be charged with a felony and face sentences of up to 99 years.

There are a multitude of reasons why this bill is problematic, but I want to look at the business case of this arcane and misguided policy move.

There are 61 colleges and universities in Alabama; each vying for a fraction of the 68 million Gen Zers — known as the most progressive, diverse and soon-to-be (if not already) influential generation we’ve seen in quite sometime — to freshman classes across the state. How do higher ed admissions counselors in Alabama reconcile their messaging of broadening minds and offering future-focused curricula in the face of decisions the reflect the exact opposite of those ideals?

I’m not exactly sure they can. Or will.

State climate is campus climate

In 2014–2015, after Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officers in Ferguson, Missouri, community unrest seeped into the Mizzou campus, erupting into riots, hunger strikes and protests which not only led to the resignation of the system president, but also a 35 percent decrease in enrollment.

35 percent.

Which means the state got 35 precent fewer brains to solve the states problems. 35 percent less in income tax to meet the budgetary needs of the state. And 35 percent fewer college graduates to call Missouri home.

This is not to say that policy decisions always need to consider the mindset and opinions of the largest and most powerful generation since baby-boomers. It does mean, however, that the repercussions of decisions like the one made in Alabama yesterday are sure to have an impact on the state’s ability to attract and retain the kinds of students who will move the state forward.

Sexual Assault in Alabama

According to the Alabama Public Health website, of the 1,890 rapes that were reported to law enforcement (it’s critical, here, to remember that nationally, 54% of assaults go unreported. See other statistics here), almost a quarter (23%) of the victims were between the ages of 13 and 16 years old. Further, according to the University of Alabama Police Department’s 2018 Campus Security Report, 22 on-campus rapes were reported in 2017. This means that, under this new law, if each of those assaults resulted in pregnancy 22 students would need to figure out whether to continue school as a single parent or drop out altogether.

Recruitment

So, what does all of this mean for higher education recruitment in Alabama? It means that admissions teams in Alabama have one more obstacle in their way towards filling freshman classes. The combination of lower high school graduation rates in the northeast, rising tuition rates, greater student debt and decline in birthrates, adding an all encompassing abortion ban just makes it that much harder to fill the state with new students-slash-potential residents.

And that could spell disaster for higher education in Alabama.