‘Fear and hopelessness’: study finds one in four professors consider leaving US south

University of Texas students walk through campus on the first day of classes in August 2025. Photograph: The Austin American-Statesman/Hearst Newspapers/Getty Images

Many professors in the US south, particularly in Florida, South Carolina and Texas, are considering leaving their state because of the impact the political climate is having on education, according to a new survey by the American Association of Professors.

Of those interviewed in the survey, roughly a quarter of respondents said they applied for a job in higher education in another state since the start of 2023.