You are spot on about grad students. When I was working on my JD, **** near everyone was from So. Florida. Few people moved down just to attend law school. I remember my 1L group, maybe a couple of people didn't have existing ties to the area, and one of those moved down because her spouse was from the area(That was one beautiful lady, I'll leave it at that).
Honestly, I don't think the powers that be are interested in having a Florida centric undergrad student body. There's a legit reason why, and it's something that makes sense when you think about it. At a school like USC, because the student body is made up of mostly kids that are from the area, went to the same high schools and **** near grew up together, you get a very homogenous student body. Unfortunately, that does lead to student body that lacks vitality and true diversity. I remember touring USC as a HS senior, and people asked me where I was from. When I said Dallas, they looked at me like I was from Mars. Mostly because the typical SC student is from the area. Miami doesn't want that kind of vibe on campus.
Miami has prided itself on having a variety of viewpoints and the like, and an efficient way to do that is to have kids from everywhere. That said, it has changed since Frenk took over, you can see that they are just packing the student body out with as many international students as they can, mostly because they will pay full freight. We had international kids on campus when I was there, but the last time I visited campus, I was amazed how many there were and how the vibe on campus has changed. It just seems as if the school isn't as vibrant as it once was, because the kids are becoming homogenous. You don't see the variety of people that you once did. Everyone dresses the same, acts the same. Ironically enough, I got the same vibe when I went to Duke for a conference a couple of years back. They have a similar student body makeup.
I don't think that Miami is throwing around the financial aid money to get kids in as they once did, and it has taken a toll in attracting kids. I think the student body sees attending Miami as a means to an end, a business transaction, nothing more. That does hurt the football program, because these kids aren't going to donate. These kids won't view the University the same way alumni like myself view it. For people like me, that came on scholarship and was able to meet the world thanks to being a 'Cane, we have a passion for the institution that makes us want to help. I donate because I know I'm a better person because of the time I spent in Coral Gables, and I want to make sure the kids that follow me are able to have those experiences. These kids, even if the football program is winning, don't give a ****. I saw it when L had the basketball program rolling, these kids just didn't give a ****. It's a diversion, it's not something that they take pride in. When they leave campus, they view it as "I did my thing, they got my money that's the end of it".
