College Applicants Favor States With Legal Marijuana

A recent study has found that colleges in states where marijuana is legal experience a significant, though short-lived, surge in applications from prospective students. Interestingly, the number of applications from high-achieving students also increases. In the year that a state legalizes recreational marijuana, the number of college applications in that state rises by about 5.5%.

Colleges clearly benefit when their state legalizes cannabis, as it allows them to attract a broader and more successful pool of students to choose from. This, in turn, creates the potential to improve the academic profile of these institutions.

One question remains: why do incoming freshmen, who are typically under 21 and therefore unable to legally purchase marijuana, choose these states? One possible explanation is that legal sales create the impression among applicants that using cannabis as a minor is less risky in these states. Another reason could be that widespread media coverage has made certain states more popular overall. There’s also the theory that a liberal cannabis policy signals that other aspects of life in these states might be better as well.