Rural students and colleges: How more recruiters are creating a path to campus
For American universities, recruiting more students in rural areas could be a way to diversify their campuses in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ban on racial admissions. Students from small towns can bring different experiences, perspectives, and values to the classroom than their urban counterparts.
This is why a group of elite and leading colleges are trying to grow their student ranks in rural areas. The Small Town and Rural Student College Network, or STARS, coalition has doubled in size to 32 colleges. It sent representatives to more than 2,000 high schools in small towns in 50 states last year.
Why did we write this?
Rural students enroll and complete college at lower rates than their urban and suburban peers. What are colleges and universities doing to get more of them to apply?
By reaching rural students, highly selective schools hope to convince some high-achieving, low-income students that an elite education is within their reach. Barely one-fifth of adults in rural areas over the age of 25 have a bachelor’s degree, compared to about 35% of adults in non-rural areas.
Jillian McGeehan, a sophomore from Sugarloaf, Pennsylvania, a town of less than 4,000, is now studying at the University of Chicago. Ms. McGeehin participated in summer programs at the university during high school, but says it didn’t really occur to her until she arrived on campus how different life was in the city.
“It’s still annoying sometimes, but I’m better than I was,” she says of navigating the subway.
Dino Koff, director of financial aid at Dartmouth College, knows his organization $90,000 The price could scare off low- and middle-income families.
So when he spoke to students and parents at Plymouth Regional High School in rural New Hampshire last month, he was quick to point out some encouraging statistics. Statistics indicate that 50% – the share of students receiving scholarships – and 22% – the share of families who pay nothing at all.
“You have to look at more than the sticker price and what it will cost you,” Mr. Cove told them.
Why did we write this?
Rural students enroll and complete college at lower rates than their urban and suburban peers. What are colleges and universities doing to get more of them to apply?
His presentation was part of a campaign by a group of elite and leading colleges to grow the ranks of rural students, who enter and complete college at lower rates than their urban and suburban peers. The coalition, which recently doubled in size to 32 colleges, sent representatives to more than 2,000 high schools in small towns in 50 states last year.
For American universities, recruiting more students in rural areas could be a way to diversify their campuses in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ban on racial admissions. Students from small towns can bring different experiences, perspectives, and values to the classroom than their urban counterparts.
Enrolling more rural students in higher education could also help bridge the political divide between rural and urban America, says Marjorie Beatley, executive director of the Small Town and Rural Colleges Network, or STARS. Which appeared for the first time In April 2023.
“One of the best ways to combat polarization is to have a conversation with someone who is different from you,” says Ms. Beatley, who is also deputy director of admissions at the University of Chicago. “Is there a better place to do this than a college classroom?”
One of Ms. Beatley’s rural recruits was Jillian McGeehan, a sophomore from Sugarloaf, Pennsylvania, a town with a population of less than 4,000. Ms. McGeehin participated in summer programs at the university during high school, but says it didn’t really occur to her until she arrived on campus how different life was in the city. The sprawling subway system was exhausting, and you couldn’t get over how expensive everything was.
“The minimum wage back home was $7.25, and here, that’s coffee,” she says.
Why do fewer rural students enroll?
Closing the long-standing gap in college attainment between rural communities and the rest of the country will not be an easy task. Barely a fifth of rural adults over age 25 have a bachelor’s degree, compared to 35% of non-rural adults. In many small-town high schools, “college is more the exception than the expectation,” Ms. Beatley says. “It’s not integrated into the fabric of the school.”
When college is promoted or encouraged by rural schools, it is often only for high-achieving students, says Crystal Chambers, a professor of educational leadership at East Carolina University, who has studied the influence of teachers on the aspirations of rural students. She says this could lead remaining students to underestimate their academic potential and rule out college.
High school guidance counselors, whose job is to help students figure out post-graduation plans, are often pulled in different directions. They’re tasked with responding to immediate crises like addiction and food and housing insecurity, says Noah Meyer, board president of the RootEd Alliance, which places college and career counselors in rural high schools and collaborates with the STARS network.
“They spend less time helping children achieve their future, and more time protecting them in the present,” she says.
In families where neither parent went to college, students may be left to handle complex admissions and financial aid processes on their own.
Rural schools are also less likely than urban and suburban schools to offer advanced mathematics — a requirement for admission to many top colleges.
At the same time, a growing number of rural students wonder about the return on expensive degrees and are choosing work over university. At Plymouth Regional High School, which draws its 660 students from eight small towns, students now talk proudly about going into a trade and making good money sooner, counselors say.
“Since coronavirus, kids have reevaluated the value of college,” says Brian Sutherland, one of the advisers. “They have a hard time imagining that in 10 years, maybe their bodies won’t feel like stretching wires all day.”
Those students who are willing to defer a salary for the promise of higher future earnings tend to choose cheaper options, such as Plymouth State University, a mile from the high school, or the University of New Hampshire. Even with generous financial aid, it may be difficult for Dartmouth to compete with the state’s leading university, which is… free For some low-income students, Mr. Cove acknowledges.
Pitch of recruits
By reaching rural students through high school visits and student and mentor travel programs, highly selective schools like Dartmouth hope to convince some high-achieving, low-income students that an elite education is within their reach. For rural students who don’t have access to high school calculus, STARS offers free online courses and tutoring through partnerships with Khan Academy and Schoolhouse.world.
When Mr. Cove and other college representatives visit rural schools, they provide students with the information and tools they will need to apply to and pay for any college. They are there to sell not only their own institutions, but the idea of college as an attainable dream and a worthwhile investment.
Norman Sackett, a senior staffer who implemented Early Decision at Dartmouth, attended Mr. Cove’s final presentation. Mr. Sackett’s father is an MRI technician, and his mother works in early child care. When he entered their income into the U.S. Department of Education’s net price calculator, he learned that he would only ask his family to contribute $5,000 — a manageable amount. He’ll find out if he makes it to Dartmouth later this month.
Colleges have not always paid much attention to rural students. Until fairly recently, most college recruiters viewed rural schools as too remote and too small to justify travel expenses. While an urban high school may see hundreds of recruiters, a rural school will be lucky to get a dozen.
This history means that many rural high school students have no idea how many options are available to them, Ms. Beatley says. When I asked rural students how many colleges they thought there were in the United States, they all said fewer than 100. When I told them there were more than 4,000 colleges, “their minds were blown.”
Participation in the STARS network, which has received $150 million in support from Trott Family Philanthropies, provides colleges with money — between $200,000 and $1 million each annually for a decade — to pay for trips to remote schools. It also allows them to share expenses on group trips to different geographic areas, such as northern New England.
Many of the colleges that participate in STARS, including Ohio State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, also recruit their students as staff and advisors for rural students. Some serve surrounding high schools. Others serve as college ambassadors on homecoming visits.
“We were in their shoes once.”
The biggest thing the high school students she talks to want is reassurance, says Avery Simpson, a peer counselor from Brooklyn, Wisconsin, who grew up on a farm raising chickens and honeybees. Some people want to know whether they are choosing the right college; Others aren’t sure if they’re even college material.
In those cases, says Ms. Simpson, now a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, “it’s nice to look at them and say we were in their shoes once, and they can do this.”
Colleges in the STARS network also create programs aimed at helping students from rural high schools transfer to large urban institutions.
In Chicago, Ms. McGeehin got help from her school’s Rural Student Alliance, a place where she could be “reminded that not everyone around you is from New York City.” She now serves on its board of directors. She plans to invite members of the university’s transit club to speak to first-year students who may be as confused by the subway as she is.
“It’s still annoying sometimes, but I’m better than I was,” she says.