College Network to Support Rural Students Expands

A national network of colleges and universities aimed at supporting rural students has doubled in size.

The Small Town and Rural Students (STARS) College Network added 16 institutions to its ranks, the organization announced, bringing the total number of colleges and universities in the rural-serving network to 32.

STARS launched last year and had a busy first year. More than 288,000 students joined the network, and network representatives visited 1,100 rural high schools across 49 states. All told, STARS reached more than 700,000 students in its first year.

STARS Executive Director Marjorie Betley, who is also the deputy director of admissions at the University of Chicago, said the sheer number of students reached speaks to the scale of the network.

I think that’s a really good indicator of how important scaling was to us to be able to impact students and get the word out there, Betley told BestColleges.

The network hosted webinars and other virtual events in addition to those in-person visits, Betley said.

STARS also scored major donations: Trott Family Philanthropies plans to expand its initial $20 million launch gift to the network to an additional $150 million over 10 years. The network intends to invest $7.4 billion in aid and programs for rural students over the next decade.

Now, the network — which already counts some of the country’s most prestigious institutions in its ranks — is expanding to include more major public and private colleges.

New additions to STARS include:

That breadth of new institutions, from public land-grant universities to major private research institutions of all sizes, will help STARS reach even more students in its second year, Betley said.

Not only do those new schools represent a wide swath of the higher education landscape and open doors to a host of options for students — but they also bring more geographic diversity to the network.

Our new partners also fill in a lot of geographic gaps that we had before, Betley said. We had no one in Texas, and we didn’t have a lot in the South in general. It’s really filling in a lot of really great areas that didn’t feel like they were represented before.

The network allows colleges to pool resources and share best practices for reaching rural students, University of Chicago Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid James Nondorf, who is also the university’s vice president for enrollment, previously told BestColleges.

We invest in so many different forms of access at all of our institutions, Nondorf said in a 2023 interview. This is a group that has unique challenges in terms of distance, in visiting, and getting to know schools, and also feeling welcomed.

STARS wants to cut back on barriers rural students face to getting a college degree. Students from rural areas graduate from high school at about the same rate as students from non-rural areas, but they are much less likely to graduate from a selective college or university.

There are a number of reasons for that disparity, according to the STARS press release. College admissions offices don’t always reach rural communities due to the distance and cost required. And rural high school counselors are often faced with a high caseload and low resources when it comes to helping students go to college.

College interactions and visits make an impact on rural students. Appalachian State researchers found in a previous study that college visits and interactions make students more likely to enroll.

Not only did STARS give me the opportunity to explore colleges I could only dream of in person, it gave me hope that schools like the University of Chicago actually care about my chance to go beyond the boundaries of my small town, Destiney Samare, a graduate of Oak Hill High School in Winthrop, Maine, who will be a first-year student at the University of Chicago this fall, said in the STARS release.

STARS’ work doesn’t end when a student gets to campus. Betley said the first year of the network saw colleges identify on-campus community-building as a key need for rural students.

That’s something the University of Chicago knows well. Betley said the school has long held social events and created touchpoints for its rural students. She added that in focus groups during STARS’ first year, community came up time and again as a need for students.

The thing that we were getting back was: community, community, community, Betley said.

STARS has centered community groups as one of its key best practices across institutions.

Betley also stressed the importance of supporting students’ financial needs and career goals. The University of Chicago, for instance, already has a practice of not counting family farms as an asset for financial aid purposes.

STARS also focuses on supporting students with internship opportunities in their hometowns. Betley said it’s important to give rural students a chance to branch out and head to college. But it’s also key that they have the opportunity to return and make an impact on the communities they come from.

We want to give you options to lead and opportunities to return at the same time, Betley said. So this is not a one-way street. This is a highway, and there’s a lot of back and forth. We want to make sure that we’re building strong, healthier ecosystems.