Chip and Joanna Gaines’ kids have grown up fast, and their two eldest children, Drake and Ella Rose Gaines, are already college age. Joanna, in particular, has been very open about how she feels seeing her two eldest kids leave the nest — and she and Chip have also spoken about the colleges Drake and Ella attend. 

First up, Drake. Chip and Joanna’s eldest is at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Texas, where he’s studying for a degree in business entrepreneurship. He’s also on the school’s baseball team, though sadly, an injury meant he wasn’t available for the 2024 season.

Joanna has long spoken about how tough it was to see her firstborn move away for college, writing in a 2024 Instagram post that although Drake had already started the year prior, “Saying goodbye doesn’t get easier.” Granted, he didn’t go that far, and in one interview with “Today”, Chip joked that as a parent, he’d believed Drake moving out was a must. “We needed to send him to college to teach him basic survival skills, like how to do laundry,” he joked. Safe to say, Drake adapted to that quickly. In a joint interview with Chip, Joanna told “Today” that after she’d decorated his apartment, he’d done his own tweaks and sent the “After” pics to his siblings. “He wanted more lighting. He bought some lights on Amazon and strung them throughout his whole apartment … Now it looks like a club,” she joked. Chip chirped that he thought he’d seen a smoke machine in one of the corners, too, though Joanna said she didn’t believe that was what it was. “I hope he doesn’t!” she laughed. Even with the club-inspired digs, Drake seems to love going home to spend time with his family, and he can regularly be seen on his mom’s Instagram. 

Drake Gaines may have stayed in Texas for college, but the same can’t be said of his younger sister, Ella Rose Gaines. She’s a student at Parsons School of Design, which makes sense given that Joanna Gaines previously gushed to People about how much she had in common with her and Chip’s oldest daughter, and noted in particular that Ella wanted to become a designer, among other things. 

That Ella decided to study in New York City can’t have come as much of a surprise to her dad, either. Speaking to “Today” in May 2025, Chip shared that none of her choices were close to home, adding that she’d considered colleges in both South Korea and California. “She seems excited to be able to spread her wings and do something very unique and outside the bubble,” the proud dad gushed. He also shared a sweet note that no matter where Ella went, he believed she was destined for very big things. “It feels like we’re sending this young lady off to become the next president of the United States. It’s very, ‘The sky’s the limit’ with Ella,” he said. 

While both Chip and Joanna are no doubt proud of both their kids taking their first big steps into the world, like we said, the latter has also made it clear that seeing them off is often bittersweet. “This season already feels like one big, breathless surrender. Lord, how do I hold them close while also letting go?” she wrote in an Instagram post. A tough moment, no doubt — but given how tight the Gaines family is, we have no doubt they’ll be keeping in touch all the time. In the meantime, their youngest child, Crew Gaines, still has several years to go before he leaves the nest.