A desire to increase the population of students from rural communities has prompted colleges and universities to initiate new research and sponsor initiatives to attract rural students to campuses.
Historically, rural students make up a very small portion of student enrollment. A new article by Nick Fouriezos in The Daily Yonder, a news site for rural communities across the country, addresses some of the issues around lower enrollments from rural communities. Often, parents fear their children will go off to college and never return home and don’t encourage them to go to college.
As a result, many rural students are first-generation students just like students of immigrants, and they have many of the same challenges assimilating into campus culture, such as lack of resources and an accent.
Focusing on rural higher education is a relatively new line of research in higher education. Fouriezos reports that some of the researchers are younger scholars who frequently come from rural communities themselves. Although rural education has long been included in the national conversation about postsecondary education, Fouriezos notes that efforts to expand rural understanding, research, and practice accelerated during the 2016 election cycle and accelerated during the pandemic.
Advocates for rural students gathered at the 2022 Rural College Access and Summit in April in Scottsdale, Arizona. Teachers, principals, superintendents, higher education leaders, as well as legislators and nonprofit leaders shared ideas and strategies for ensuring that rural students are supported in their transition from high school to college and career.
This is just one of the initiatives colleges are supporting to generate interest in higher education for rural students.
Building a Rural Education Community of Practice
To better serve rural students, advocates are creating a Rural Education Community of Practice to focus on improving the enrollment and success of rural students. Some of the partners and institutions involved in this work include:
- Partners for Rural Impact: a nonprofit that accelerates educational outcomes in rural places from cradle to career.
- Emerging Rural Leaders Program: run by the University of Chicago, the program values the experiences and viewpoints that rural students can bring to important, complex political and social issues.
- ALL Georgia Program: the University of Georgia supports all rural students with a linked set of experiences that include an intentional network of support and resources to help students be successful.
The Rural Education Community of Practice is in its early stages and has more questions than answers at this juncture. The founders of this group and attendees at early stage meetings are hopeful that this initiative can be effective and make a difference in providing postsecondary opportunities for rural students.