10. Support the recruitment and college completion of rural students of color and rural students with lower incomes.

Recruitment 09.19.24

Here’s what the federal government can do:

  • Congress should increase federal funding for Rural Serving Institutions (RSIs) to support the enrollment and completion of students from rural communities.
  • Congress should expand broadband access in education deserts[i] and establish subsidies to offset internet costs for households with lower incomes.

Here’s what state government can do:

  • State legislatures should establish targeted recruitment and attainment goals for students with lower incomes from rural areas.
  • State legislatures should increase state aid to RSIs.
  • State legislatures should establish a matching grant for programs that support the recruitment and completion of students from rural communities.
  • Higher education coordinating agencies should offer technical assistance and guidance to higher education institutions on applying for state and federal aid that supports the recruitment and college completion of rural students.

Here’s what institutional leaders can do:

  • Higher education institutions should provide virtual campus visits or fly-in programs, providing prospective students with travel vouchers to schools they may not have the financial resources to visit.
  • Higher education institutions should offer financial support for students with lower incomes from rural areas to access textbooks, emergency aid, and resources that meet their needs.
  • Higher education institutions should develop partnerships with secondary schools in rural areas and send recruitment ambassadors to their schools.

Federal, state, and institutional policymakers and leaders should provide greater support for the recruitment and college completion of rural students, particularly students of color.

Rural communities in the United States are rich in diversity, with people of color representing between 20 to 25 percent of all rural populations.[ii] In southern states, many rural counties are largely Black, and in the rural Southwest a significant share of rural residents are Latino.[iii] Many Native American students are nearly entirely educated in rural areas.[iv] State legislatures should establish and create goals for the recruitment and attainment of rural students of color and rural students with lower incomes. Higher education institutions can also prioritize the recruitment of rural students by providing virtual campus visits and provide travel vouchers to fly in for visits.

[i]Education deserts are defined as local areas where there are either zero or only one public college nearby.

[ii]“Who Lives in Rural America? How Data Shapes (and Misshapes) Conceptions of Diversity in Rural America,” Center on Rural Innovation, January 12, 2023. https://ruralinnovation.us/blog/who-lives-in-rural-america-part-i/#:~:text=Between%202010%20and%202020,%20the,(2010%20&%202020%20census.

[iii]Rowlands, DW; Love, Hanna. “Mapping rural America’s diversity and demographic change,” Brookings. September 28, 2021. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/mapping-rural-americas-diversity-and-demographic-change/#__edn2.

[iv]Wood, Sarah. “Tribal Colleges and Universities: What to Know” U.S. News & World Report, August 8, 2022. https://www.usnews.com/education/articles/tribal-colleges-and-universities-what-to-know.