Elite Colleges Spend $170 Million to Increase Rural Student Enrollment, Which Remains Low

When he attended, only 3 percent of students there were from rural backgrounds. Nearly a quarter of the American population is rural, Trott has noted.

U.S. Department of Education. A little more than half of those graduates go straight to college, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center reports. That compares with nearly 60 percent of urban high school graduates and 63 percent of suburban ones.

The proportion of rural Americans 25 and older with associate degrees or higher is about a third. Nearly half of Americans 25 and older in cities and suburbs hold such degrees.

U.S. Department of Agriculture. Fewer than half of people in their teens and 20s in rural areas are hopeful they will find good jobs, a Gallup survey found. In Chugiak, Alaska, the high school has a 91 percent graduation rate but only 48 percent of graduates go on to college, state figures show.

Olivia Meier, a college-bound senior from Chugiak, said cost and self-doubt often hold back her peers. " The network's work now focuses on ensuring rural students not only enroll but also graduate. Amherst and other member schools cover costs for rural applicants to visit campuses, attend classes and stay overnight.

Rural students remain more likely to drop out than urban or suburban classmates once enrolled. Many face homesickness and a sense they do not belong on selective campuses. Some rural families also view elite colleges with distrust, believing they may negatively affect students' values.

Hancock's mother ordered the smallest possible decal of his brother's private college logo to avoid drawing attention in their Pennsylvania town. "That's a rural cultural idea, that you don't want to put yourself better than anybody," she said. Catherine Colberg, another admitted rural student from St.

Compared hometown sizes with peers while making s'mores at the Amherst fire pit and noted her high school shared a single test tube.