By: Bonniejean Zitske
Why do college-going rates in rural communities lag behind non-rural areas, even though their high school completion rates are equal to or higher than those in non-rural areas?
Well, that’s a great, and important, question. Unfortunately, there’s many unknowns when it comes to understanding trends and disparities in geography and opportunity.
The SSTAR Lab is happy to join a new national research center—the National Education Research and Development Center for Improving Postsecondary Education—that seeks to advance understanding of postsecondary pathways for rural students.
The center, led by MDRC, a national nonprofit focused on research on poverty, and institutional partners, will be funded by a five-year, multi-million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences.
The researchers at SSTAR Lab, including co-principal investigator Nicholas Hillman, will develop the first-ever database tracking national and state-level college-going and college-completion rates for rural high school students. They will also partner with the UW Survey Center to understand rural students’ college aspirations and decision-making processes.
Jennifer Blazek, program director at UW–Madison’s College for Rural Wisconsin, a college-access program designed for the unique needs of rural and small-town students, says understanding rural and small-town students’ perceptions about college, as well as those of the groups influencing them, is key to increasing access.
“Only 29% of 18 to 24-year-olds from rural communities are enrolled in higher education, less than their urban and suburban counterparts,” Blazek says.
The SSTAR Lab looks forward to addressing these important issues with MDRC and partner institutions including Alabama Commission on Higher Education, Alabama Community College System, Bates College, Montana University System, North Carolina Community College System, Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission, Tennessee Higher Education Commission, and University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
SSTAR Lab is a research-practice partnership embedded in the Division of Enrollment Management. It seeks to produce and elevate research to reduce barriers, improve equity and support student success in higher education through intentional partnerships with practitioners and policymakers in the field.
This new project builds on our previous work studying the role of geography in college access and success. As we engage in this new work, we’ll share updates here. Stay tuned, and sign up for our newsletter to receive email updates with other new work from SSTAR Lab!