1. © 2011, Michigan Campus Compact. All rights reserved
College Positive volunteerism HELPING K-12 Youth take steps toward postsecondary education
© 2011, Michigan Campus Compact. All rights reserved

2. © 2011, Michigan Campus Compact. All rights reserved
Overview
Identifying Rural Areas
Understanding Rural Students
Rural College Access Challenges
Rural College Access Tips
Rural College Access Activities
© 2011, Michigan Campus Compact. All rights reserved

3. © 2011, Michigan Campus Compact. All rights reserved
RURAL CPV RESOURCES
© 2011, Michigan Campus Compact. All rights reserved

4. Identifying Rural Areas
Markers of a rural community include:
Distance to an urban center or metro area
Geographic spread with a low population density
Small community size
Andy Smarick, Ed Excellence
© 2011, Michigan Campus Compact. All rights reserved

5. Understanding Rural Students
“What if I told you there were millions of American boys and girls living in communities where half of students are low-income, just one in five adults has earned a bachelor’s degree, and only 27 percent of high school graduates go on to college?
What if I told you these students are more likely than their peers in any other geographic area to live in poverty?
Most of you would probably gather that I’m talking about our inner cities.
No.
These statistics describe rural America.”
- Andy Smarick, “America’s rural schools and communities”
© 2011, Michigan Campus Compact. All rights reserved

6. Understanding Rural Students
1 in 3 American schools are rural
1 in 4 American students attend school in a rural community
4 our of every 10 rural students are low-income
Source
Though rural students graduate high school at a higher rate than their big-city peers, they are far less likely to attend college or enroll in post- college graduate or professional programs.
© 2011, Michigan Campus Compact. All rights reserved

7. Rural College Access Barriers
Lack of understanding about the importance or value of higher education in the Midwest
(Most parents and grandparents of today’s students grew up in a time when agriculture and industry provided many jobs for laborers without postsecondary education.)
Fear of the unknown, or areas outside of the hometown
Lack of local, low-cost commuter schools
© 2011, Michigan Campus Compact. All rights reserved

8. Rural College Access Barriers
Rural communities can tend to be hesitant to open their arms to people who are outsiders (College Access Foundation)
“Distance between school and the home makes parent involvement difficult…Work schedules are a large barrier to engagement and attendance at events such as parent-teacher conferences, report card pcikups, and volunteer activities,” (Ed Excellence)
There is often a lack of public and private transportation in rural areas
© 2011, Michigan Campus Compact. All rights reserved

9. Rural College Access Tips
Physically meet students and their families where they are most likely to be. Athletic events are particularly well attended in rural communities. (Source)
Provide transportation to events and field trips
Offer events both far away and nearby to include all students
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10. Rural College Access Tips
Provide incentives for attendance and participation
Hold events that include parents and family
Become involved in the community and school to discover what local resources are available
Encourage students to search for and apply for scholarships from local organizations, such as the Elks, Rotary, Lions, Eagles, etc.
© 2011, Michigan Campus Compact. All rights reserved

11. Rural College Access Tips
Use mail, and social media and phone calls to reach students
Look at U.S. Census data to better understand the community you’re in
Promote county transportation and ride sharing boards to local families
Act as a resource, not an expert, to avoid appearing as a threatening outsider
© 2011, Michigan Campus Compact. All rights reserved

12. Rural College Access Activities
Show students that large universities in big cities are not their only postsecondary education options.
Using a student can conduct a “College Match” search. The filter criteria include “Preferred College Size” and “Preferred College City Size”. Use this tool to show students schools of varied sizes.
© 2011, Michigan Campus Compact. All rights reserved

13. Rural College Access Activities
See what resources MSU Extension has to offer in your county. MSU has programming in every county in the state of Michigan.
Take group trips to tour colleges near and far
If college tours are cost prohibitive, bring college to the students in creative ways.
Virtual college tours are a great resource. For a generic tour of a fictitious example university, see KnowHow2Go’s homepage in the bottom left corner.
To view specific colleges, check out ecampustours.com.
© 2011, Michigan Campus Compact. All rights reserved

14. Special Thanks To:
Sam Morykwas, Resource Development AmeriCorps*VISTA member who surveyed Mentoring to Access Corps members and other service-learning professionals about their experiences working in rural communities. Survey participants included:
Elizabeth Wallace
Nicholas Holton
Danielle Zipay
Eric Jenkins
Megan Parish
© 2011, Michigan Campus Compact. All rights reserved

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Thank you!
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© 2011, Michigan Campus Compact. All rights reserved