KENT, Ohio - Midwestern universities participating in a student exchange program with other schools are finding that students think it is more fun to go someplace else.

        The National Student Exchange allows students to take classes at other schools in the United States, Canada or the U.S. Virgin Islands while still enrolled at their universities. Almost 4,000 students are participating this year.

        But most aren't heading to Ohio - or any state in middle America.

        “We are not glamorous or sexy,” said Michelle Clemons, associate director of student life at the University of Louisville. “A lot of students have stereotypes of the Midwest. They'd rather go to the coasts.”

        But not Lucy Montalvo, who always has dreamed of living in a cold, snowy city.

        The University of Puerto Rico senior will attend Kent State University this fall through a growing college exchange program.

        “I want to feel real cold,” she said by phone from Puerto Rico. “I want to freeze my butt off.”

        Ms. Montalvo, 20, also chose Kent because of its programs in dance and early childhood education.

        Kent State joined the program this year. The only other Ohio schools involved are Bowling Green State University and Cleveland State University.

        In the past 10 years, the program has added 75 colleges and universities to its roster, which now totals 177. Twenty-five percent of the new schools are in the Midwest.

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