Yeah, I both went to UIUC and did job fairs/interviews there later, and while there certainly is the "let's get out of here" mindset from some students, many students' first question was "what do you have in Chicagoland?" or occasionally the Twin Cities. This was, perhaps obviously, especially true of the students from those cities. Hearing that a coastal job was the only option was definitely not a plus to many. Things were somewhat different for grad students who tend to be more diverse geographically, but it's not like they're taking HS kids from SV, dropping them in the Midwest to get educated and then releasing them from their hell after 4 years.

Unrelated note, how did PA (CMU) get included in the Midwest. Philly is essentially on the Atlantic Ocean and the Navy used to build warships there. That's hardly any sort of degree of West.