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| Emporia, Kansas, was once a busy railroad and cattle hub. Many residents today work in beef-packing or pet-food plants or the commercial bakery. The local university is suffering. (Photo by Ji Stribling, The Hechinger Report) |
Marcus cites another example: "Henderson State University in Arkansas in May dropped 25 degree programs in disciplines including geography, history, political science, public administration, criminal justice, biology, studio art, communication, theater arts, English and Spanish. Several states are merging universities, many of which serve rural students."
For generations, the path out of rural poverty has been through higher education, but fewer rural young people attend college compared to their counterparts, Marcus notes. "That means the already limited options available to rural students are being squeezed still further, forcing them to travel even greater distances to college than they already do or give up on it altogether."
Andrew Koricich, an associate professor of higher education at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., and executive director of the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges, told Marcus, “This is just the next in a long line of issues where rural folks are told by people who are not rural what they’re going to have and not have."
Many states with large rural populations "have steadily reduced their higher education funding. Spending on higher education fell in 16 of the 20 most rural states between 2008 and 2018 when adjusted for inflation, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities," Marcus reports. "Higher-education funding per student declined by more than 30 percent in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. In Kansas, it went down by nearly 23 percent."
Many institutional leaders claim "they’re trying to preserve and even expand choice, mostly by creating majors that rural students can take fully or partly online — including many that were never available on their local campuses," Marcus reports. However, "Advocates for rural students are critical of this trend — most notably Koricich, who called it 'cover' for deep program cuts. Another problem: Nearly 1 in 5 people in rural places don’t have access to high-speed internet, compared with about 1 percent in cities, according to the Federal Communications Commission."
For generations, the path out of rural poverty has been through higher education, but fewer rural young people attend college compared to their counterparts, Marcus notes. "That means the already limited options available to rural students are being squeezed still further, forcing them to travel even greater distances to college than they already do or give up on it altogether."
Andrew Koricich, an associate professor of higher education at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., and executive director of the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges, told Marcus, “This is just the next in a long line of issues where rural folks are told by people who are not rural what they’re going to have and not have."
Many states with large rural populations "have steadily reduced their higher education funding. Spending on higher education fell in 16 of the 20 most rural states between 2008 and 2018 when adjusted for inflation, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities," Marcus reports. "Higher-education funding per student declined by more than 30 percent in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. In Kansas, it went down by nearly 23 percent."
Many institutional leaders claim "they’re trying to preserve and even expand choice, mostly by creating majors that rural students can take fully or partly online — including many that were never available on their local campuses," Marcus reports. However, "Advocates for rural students are critical of this trend — most notably Koricich, who called it 'cover' for deep program cuts. Another problem: Nearly 1 in 5 people in rural places don’t have access to high-speed internet, compared with about 1 percent in cities, according to the Federal Communications Commission."
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