Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now to your calls and texts on how the politics at a particular college or the job market for college graduates affected your choice of schools this year. Listener texts, "My daughter had her heart set on the University of Michigan since she was a freshman in high school. However, even though she applied there and received admittance, she ultimately chose another school, Washington University in St. Louis, due to the uncomfortable environment that persists at University of Michigan."

This listener doesn't say uncomfortable in what way, but there's an indication that-- Oh, they texted again to say, "Uncomfortable environment for Jewish students," according to this parent at the University of Michigan. There's an example right off the bat. Adrian in Westfield, you're on wnyc. Hello, Adrian.

Adrian: Yes, hi. My son is a senior, and he chose Providence College in Rhode Island. Really, what drove me to support that choice was, they have a program called Department of Western Civilization, which it takes every student, regardless of their major or in the business school. They really look at the past from all different perspectives. It really focuses on that liberal arts foundation and teaches them how to think, which is, I think, really important in the age of AI. I am a law school professor, and AI is very concerning to me. That really was the driver for that choice. I'm really happy with it.

Brian Lehrer: Really interesting. A very contemporary consideration. Richard in Orange, who says it was a wrenching process. Right, Richard?

Richard: Yes, that's correct, Brian. Thank you for taking my call. It's my fourth time getting through. Thank you. Our son, who's graduating from Pingry High School in New Jersey, which is an excellent school, it came down to NJIT or RIT in Rochester to study neuroscience, and he was really concerned about costs, so he wanted to stay home. We were like, "Well, if you want to live at home and go to school, we can send you to Europe, where I'm from. You can have that type of experience anywhere in the world. The uniqueness of the American experience is to go on a campus and immerse yourself into college life."

We had to push, push, push to have him really consider RIT, which for us both parents was just the superior fit by far. He insisted that he wanted to just stay close to home, and so it was very difficult to twist his arm. We got extensions. We made the deposit yesterday.

Brian Lehrer: Congratulations. Yes, those very personal considerations of some kids want to go as far away from their parents as they can get. Others really want to stay close to home. That, of course, a non-economy, non-politician politics consideration, but so, so common. Here's an interesting text. Listener says, "My kid wanted to study environmental science, but with the current political administration and the idea that those jobs are either government-based or grant-based, they felt architecture was a better route."

That's interesting. One environmental science grad lost. Here's another one. "My grandson changed his mind about attending Twin Cities University after seeing the ICE raids in Minneapolis. He will attend NYU." One more text here. "A trend I continue to see are Black Gen Zers choosing to go to HBCUs," Black Gen Zers choosing HBCUs, "including those whose parents, like me and many of my friends," writes this person, "went to to Ivy League schools." There you go.

There's a little smattering from some of our listeners of reasons, and you can hear these very contemporary things, ICE raids, defunding of environmental research, atmosphere for Jewish students, all coming up right now as part of the reasons why families choose one school or another this year. Hey, I'll close today by saying rest in peace, John Sterling. We heard this morning that the Yankees' longtime radio play-by-play announcer has died at the age of 87. Often over the top in his delivery and his humor, he was an old-school play-by-play entertainer, as when he called Aaron Judge's 60th home run a few years ago, reaching that Babe Ruthian milestone.

John Sterling: Swung on that. There it goes, deep left. It is high, it is far, it is gone. He's tied the Babe. It's a Judgian blast. His 60th home run of the year. Wow. All rise. Here comes the Judge.

Brian Lehrer: He had all those calls, over the top. It's so much fun for all those players. A Judgian blast. All rise. Here comes the Judge. John Sterling worked the radio booth right up through the 2024 World Series, not missing a beat of that even when he was 85. John Sterling, rest in peace.