More selective colleges aim to get rural students who've been accepted to take the leap and enroll

Rural students accepted to selective Amherst College make 
s'mores and discuss their futures. (Photo by Lucy Lu, Hechinger)

Prestigious colleges throughout the U.S. are increasing efforts to convince more rural high school seniors to not only apply for admission but to enroll upon acceptance. Student and family support initiatives are being created to help those seniors take the leap, reports Jon Marcus of NPR in collaboration with The Hechinger Report.

Roughly three years ago, a full-fledged initiative known as the STARS College Network — for the Small Town and Rural Students — was launched by rural-born philanthropist and University of Chicago trustee Byron Trott, who invested $20 million to start the program, Marcus explains. During its first three years, STARS aimed to help more rural students learn what more elite colleges were offering and apply.

Even though more rural high schoolers graduate than their urban and suburban counterparts, getting rural students to consider and apply to colleges like Brown, MIT and Yale is a tall order. "Ninety percent of rural students graduate from high school," Marcus reports. "But only a little more than half go straight to college."

The reasons rural high school graduates avoid colleges, particularly those that are more selective or far away from home, are complex and can range from being scared off by tuition costs to not even knowing where to start applying. Nonetheless, the STARS College Network has made progress. Marcus adds, "As STARS has built momentum, more than 90,000 rural students applied to its member institutions last year, up 15% over the year before."

But STARS leadership saw a gap. Even when rural students were accepted to more elite colleges, they did not enroll. New funding from the Trott family is working to change that. Marcus reports, "Trott's foundation has since injected another $150 million into STARS, which has expanded from 16 member schools to 32."

To encourage accepted students to enroll, some STARS colleges are covering the costs for "prospective students and admitted applicants from rural areas to spend a day or two on their campuses," Marcus explains. "More than 1,000 students took advantage of that opportunity last year."

Not only does adding rural students to a selective college body help rural students and families achieve upward mobility, but it also helps colleges create a more diverse set of opinions and learning experiences for all students. Michael Elliot, the president of prestigious Amherst College in Massachusetts that participates in STARS, told Marcus, "Students growing up in rural areas bring perspectives and experiences that students from urban environments don't have."

Small towns use simple fix that starts with private funds to keep high schoolers out of dead-end jobs

rootED advisors help rural students navigate educational
and employment complexities. (rootED photo)

A new program launched by billionaire investment banker Byron Trott is helping students at small-town high schools develop and execute after-high-school plans that tap into their interests and keep them out of "dead-end jobs," reports Lauren Weber of The Wall Street Journal. 

Called rootEd Alliance, Trott's program "has placed advisers in schools across seven states to fill a gaping void: 17- and 18-year-olds are expected to navigate an astoundingly complex labor market, often with little or no explicit guidance," Weber explains. 

The majority of the 280 schools that rootEd partners with "already have guidance counselors," Weber writes. But many are "overstretched with basics like sorting students’ schedules and managing the life emergencies that hit students all too often."

The program partners with more than 1,500 national
and local businesses. (rootED photo) 

By planting an advisor dedicated to providing career guidance and opportunities, students and their post-high school plans get more attention. According to Weber, that kind of focused planning is particularly important for rural students who are traditionally exposed to fewer career options and role models. Root advisers also help employers connect with potential employees to fill skilled-labor shortages. 

Through its advisors, rootED also aims to help students avoid poverty by training for careers with solid pay and promotion possibilities. Weber reports, "Once a school is staffed with a rootEd adviser, students are 54% less likely to wind up in low-skill, low-paying jobs than before." 

At schools where a rootEd advisor is working, students are more likely to pursue higher education. Weber adds, But advisors are "agnostic on whether students choose college, military service, employment or trade school," Weber reports. "The goal is for each senior to have a Plan A and ideally a Plan B." To help students develop those plans, advisors take students to different trade schools and colleges and promote scholarships.

Analysis: College degrees remain good investments, but universities need to foster job preparedness and creativity

On average, college graduates earn $30,000 more salary per year than
high school graduates. (Getty Images photo via The Conversation CC)

Even as more Americans believe that earning a college degree isn't worth the time and expense, research shows that college degrees still offer multiple benefits, including higher lifetime earnings and greater job security.

In her newly released book, Invent Ed, professor and global strategist, Caroline Field Levander argues that "people have lost sight of two factors that made universities great to begin with: invention and creativity," writes Amy Lieberman, an education editor, at The Conversation U.S.

Lieberman asked Levander to share her breakdown on why graduating from an American college or university still benefits degree earners throughout their lifetime. An edited version of Lieberman's Q & A with Levander is shared below.

Lieberman: How can we measure the value of a college degree?
Levander: The average high school graduate over a 40-year career earns $1.6 million, according to 2021 findings by Georgetown University. The average college graduate earns $2.8 million over this same 40-year period. That $1.2 million difference amounts to around $30,000 more salary per year.

Levander points out that U.S. college graduates tend to remain employed and replace a lost job more quickly than high school graduates. "The unemployment rate for people with a high school degree was 4.2% in 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. By contrast, 2.5% of people with a bachelor’s degree and 2.2% of people with a master’s degree were unemployed in 2024."

Lieberman: Do any of these benefits extend beyond individual students?
Levander: Colleges and universities are major employers in their communities – and not just professors and administrators. Higher education institutions employ every trade and kind of worker.

Lieberman: Some people are questioning the value of a degree. What role can universities play in reassuring them of their relevance?
Levander: I believe universities need to teach something else [beyond job force preparation] that is equally valuable: They also need to build creative capacity and an inventive mindset into undergraduate education, as a fundamental return on the investment in education. . . . Employers report that creativity is the top job skill needed today."

Lieberman: What can faculty and students easily do to encourage creativity and innovation?
Levander: Professors can build what I call a 'growth mindset' in the classroom by focusing on success over time, rather than the quick correct answer. . . . Students could also consider committing to trying new courses in areas where they haven’t already been successful. They could approach their college experience with the idea that grades aren’t the only marker of success.

Opinion: U.S. educational mismatch leaves American manufacturers unable to fill 'millions of critical jobs'

A shortage of trained mechanics means auto owners 
will pay more for repairs. (Ford photo)

Moving the manufacturing of any product back to the U.S. is an expensive and iffy gamble that can take years to bring into fruition. For many companies, the idea of reshoring labor-intensive industries isn't even on the table because the nation doesn't have enough skilled trade workers to staff factory floors.

Ford Motor CEO Jim Farley "pointed out on a podcast last week that he can’t find enough skilled mechanics to run his auto plants. Specifically, Ford can’t fill 5,000 mechanic jobs that pay $120,000 a year," writes The Wall Street Journal editorial board.

“We are in trouble in our country. We are not talking about this enough,” Farley told Monica Langley of the "Office Hours" podcast. "We have over a million openings in critical jobs, emergency services, trucking, factory workers, plumbers, electricians and tradesmen.”

For decades, American youth have been influenced to attend college rather than trade schools through government-sponsored financial support and cultural influences that push college degrees as a prerequisite for success, even when a trade profession might be a better fit. "This has created a skills mismatch in the labor market," the board adds. "Unemployment among young college grads is increasing, while employers struggle to hire skilled manufacturing workers, technicians and contractors."

When graduate numbers are compared, the extreme shortage of skilled workers becomes clear. "Only 114,000 Americans in their 20s completed vocational programs during the first 10 months of last year, compared to 1.24 million who graduated from four-year colleges and 405,000 who received advanced degrees," the board writes.

A lack of skilled workers eventually costs consumers more money. "An American whose F-150 truck breaks down will still have to pay more at the repair shop owing to the mechanic shortage," the board explains. "Steering every high school student toward college is doing tangible harm to the labor market — and the young."

New $100K skilled-worker H-1B visa fee could mean fewer Indian doctors to treat rural residents

One in five immigrant doctors in the U.S. is of 
Indian origin. (Photo via BBC News)

The Trump administration's new $100,000 skilled-worker H-1B visa fee could leave fewer Indian doctors to treat rural populations. "One in four doctors providing care in the U.S. are foreign-trained, and recent data shows that most of them practice in the vast, underserved rural areas where American graduates are reluctant to work," reports Savita Patel of BBC News.

For the roughly 50,000 India-trained physicians currently working in the U.S., the new visa fee does not apply; however, there are worries around "whether the steady supply of Indian medical professionals to the U.S. would continue in the future," Patel explains. "According to research, one in five immigrant doctors in the U.S. is of Indian origin."

And while the administration may eventually decide to exempt medically trained workers from the new fee, currently, "there is no indication that any category of workers, including those in the medical field, has been exempted," Patel reports.

The American Medical Association asked the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristin Noem, to reconsider the new fee, "emphasizing that the fee hike could discourage hospitals from hiring H-1B doctors, affecting future supply pipelines and limiting patients' access to care in communities that need it the most," Patel adds.

Supporters of the fee hike insist it will keep "American jobs for Americans," Patel adds. But research on which jobs foreign medical workers take shows they are filling positions that American doctors don't want -- in regions that are "remote and low-income."

Given the financial straits many rural hospitals are already in, "any hike in the fee would make it harder to bring in new clinicians from abroad," Patel writes. Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, president of the AMA, told Patel, "We have heard from health systems who say this fee would be devastating."

Parents of agriculture graduate ready to 'turn her loose' on their 4,500-acre farm

Paige Pence, middle, with her parents Brent and Christine
(Photo by Matthew J. Grassi, Farm Journal)

Some people were born to be wild, some were born to run, and others were born to farm. Paige Pence from New Carlisle, Ohio, falls in the latter category. 

This summer the Western Illinois graduate will get an "entirely new learning experience," reports Matthew J. Grassi for Farm Journal. Her parents plan to "turn her loose" on their 4,500-acre farm to see what managing agriculture is all about.

Pence, 22, just graduated with a bachelor's degree in agricultural science partnered with a minor in animal science, which gives her a leg up on farming book smarts. But at her family's farm, she'll be hands-on. "Paige [will] get her feet wet running the farm’s fleet of equipment and pitching in wherever she can leave her mark," Grassi writes. "She’ll be shouldering a healthy load of farm duties, with her parents guiding her along the way."

While some farm families struggle to find a way to keep their farms in the family, the Pences have a plan. "Meeting with the family, you can tell right from the jump Brent and Christine are thrilled to get their daughter back," Grassi adds. "Through sheer perseverance and with some help from friends, neighbors and family, they've built an impressive operation to one day pass down to their only child."

As Paige finished her final year at college, she felt ready to head back to the farm. She told Grassi, "During my senior year it started to hit me that I was ready to go home … and start making the changes that were going to help our family.”

Even though Brent and Christine aren't planning to retire anytime soon, Paige is content to be on the farm learning how to manage it. She told Grassi, “I have always grown up around farming, so I don’t see myself ever leaving. There are always different things that need to be done, and aside from showing [livestock] over the last decade, I’ve always been around helping out. I don’t see myself moving anywhere else. I feel like everything I need is right here.”

Smaller, religiously affiliated campuses are often the best option for rural students, but many are 'fighting to survive'

St. Ambrose and Mount Mercy are working to unite, so both
can remain open. (Photo by M. Rundle, Hechinger Report)

Smaller religious colleges that offer rural students a place to pursue higher education are struggling to keep their doors open. To combat ongoing financial woes, many religiously affiliated colleges are creating ways to join forces with like-minded colleges.

"Rural students often have few options other than religious institutions fighting to survive," reports Jon Marcus for The Hechinger Report. "The heads of St. Ambrose and Mount Mercy, in Iowa, said they’ve watched as nearby religiously affiliated colleges, athletic rivals and institutions that employed their friends and former colleagues closed."

As the number of students graduating from high school shrinks, smaller colleges face dwindling enrollments and rocky financial futures. Marcus writes, "The threats to smaller religiously affiliated institutions in rural areas stem largely from the downturn in the already short supply of high school graduates choosing to enroll. The proportion of such students going straight to college has fallen even more sharply in many largely rural states."

The schools merging or working out unique collaborations with other colleges are striving to protect both institutions from closures or drastic reductions in majors or student services. "Ursuline College in Ohio, for instance, which has fewer than 1,000 students, has agreed to merge with larger Gannon University, 95 miles away. Both are Catholic," Marcus adds. "Bluffton University in Ohio, which is Mennonite, is looking for a new partner after a planned merger fell through in February and the president resigned."

Religiously affiliated institutions often serve more "rural areas where access to higher education is more limited than in urban and suburban places and is becoming less available still as public universities in rural states have merged or closed or cut dozens of majors," Marcus reports. St. Ambrose President Amy Novak told Marcus, “We serve the poor. We educate the poor. That is a risky financial proposition at the moment for small, regional institutions that are largely tuition-driven.”

For Hechinger’s list of all college closures since 2008, click here.

Rural residents seeking higher degrees often have to move; lawmakers think community colleges may have a solution

Jaylea Perez attends community college but will have to move if she
 wants a 4-year degree. (Photo by Mike Rundle, The Hechinger Report)

Rural communities across the United States face the same problem: There aren't enough higher education opportunities within driving distance. To fill ‘education deserts,’ more state lawmakers want community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees," reports Jon Marcus for The Hechinger Report, which covers education.

The U.S. has roughly 13 million adults who "live beyond a reasonable commute from the nearest four-year university," Marcus explains. For now, the lack of educational options is predicted to increase "as private colleges in rural places close, public university campuses merge or shut down and rural universities cut majors and programs."

Although half of the states in the country already allow community colleges to offer some type of bachelor's degree, several of those that don't are considering adding this option. Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky and Texas are all states with large swaths of rural populations that have legislatures considering plans to allow community colleges to expand.

The proposal Illinois is considering is "backed by that state’s governor, J.B. Pritzker, who has said the move would make it easier and more affordable for residents to get degrees — 'particularly working adults in rural communities,'" Marcus adds. "Three-quarters of community college students in Illinois said they would pursue bachelor’s degrees if they could do it on the same campus, according to a survey released by Pritzker’s office."

The shift to allowing community colleges to confer higher degrees might also help smaller communities address population loss and "brain drain." Marcus reports, "Fewer than 25% of rural Americans hold bachelor’s degrees or higher, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, compared to the national average of 33%," and that gap is widening.

Some states looking to make the change are contending with push-back from their larger colleges. The Illinois proposal "is stalled in committee after several public and private university presidents issued a statement opposing it," Marcus reports. "Negotiations are continuing."

To find out which states have active proposals and which 'deserts' they are trying to address, read the entire story here. 

Retelling the history of land-grant universities and sharing their contributions is key to their survival

Gary Steinhardt taught and researched soil science issues
at Purdue and Purdue Extension. (Farm Progress photo)

Land-grant universities sit at the heart of farming research and Extension Services, but to keep them alive, their history and contribution need retelling, writes Tom J. Bechman of Farm Progress. "Education at a land-grant university helped make Gary Steinhardt who he is today. . . . He spent roughly half of his final Purdue Agronomy Department seminar explaining the history and mission of land-grant colleges and the Extension Service."

Steinhardt explained to Bechman why he felt driven to retell the land-grant success story: “We are at a point in the history of the land-grant system where we need to be careful. Some in the academic world don’t appreciate what it can accomplish. There is still a tremendous need to tell the public about research done through land-grant universities. Otherwise, education does not get passed along.”

Funding may always be a challenge for Extension Services, and "current upheaval due to efforts to cut federal spending may only intensify the fight for Extension dollars," Bechman explains. "But the threat Steinhardt refers to is within university systems. Is there still support among university leaders for practical, applied research that can be passed along to farmers and families, and to youth through 4-H? When an Extension person like Steinhardt retires, will that position be replaced?"

Steinhardt's seminar showcased the creation of land-grant universities and reviewed why they were established. A few of his highlighted events are shared below:

Land Ordinance of 1785. "Money from the sale of Section 16 in each township was reserved to fund schools," Bechman writes. "Money from land sales also helped start universities, including Miami University in Ohio, Indiana University, the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin."

Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and Industrial universities. "This act of the Confederation Congress declared 'schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged,'" Bechman adds. "In the mid-1800s, Jonathan Baldwin Turner promoted 'industrial universities' that could teach working-class people, like those in agriculture."

Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862. Bechman explains, "In the middle of the Civil War, this act of Congress specified how public lands could be donated to 'provide for colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts, including military tactics.'"

To read more about land-grant development in the United States, click here.

Rural round-up: USDA plan to lower egg prices; cuts to rural education research; relief payments to farmers; USFS firings

Photo by J. Egger,
Unsplash

As egg prices keep pecking at American pocketbooks, Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has a 5-part plan to lower egg prices. Rollins writes, "Avian flu can still penetrate [almost any] facility; it is transmitted through wild birds that often enter through perimeter gaps that need to be fixed. . . . The USDA has developed a successful pilot program. . . to identify and implement more safety measures. . . . Second, we will make up to $400 million of increased financial relief available to farmers whose flocks are affected by avian flu, and we will assist them in receiving faster approval to begin safe operations again after an outbreak. . . ." Read all of Secretary Rollins' strategy here.

President Donald Trump's first campaign and term may have helped bring rural needs for investment and support to the forefront, but the current Trump administration "could bring that progress to a sudden halt," reports Nick Fouriezos for The Daily Yonder. "The first cuts were reportedly aimed at the Institute of Education Sciences, the Department of Education's independent research and evaluation arm, with at least 170 contracts shuttered. . . . The National Rural Higher Education Research Center just opened in September, after being awarded a 5-year, $10 million grant through the IES. . . . Led by MDRC, which conducts nonpartisan research to improve the lives of low-income Americans, the center is conducting eight major studies in rural areas across 10 states and 25 colleges."

Outdoor Recreation Roundtable photo

The wave of U.S. Forestry terminations put a precious rural resources at risk. "About 3,400 U.S. Forest Service employees within their probationary period have been fired due to Trump’s reforming the federal workforce executive order," reports Ilana Newman of The Daily Yonder. "National forests are vital to rural economies. The outdoor recreation industry contributed 1.2 trillion dollars to the American economy in 2023. . . . A source revealed that seasonal firefighters may be in the next round of terminations."

Sections of Appalachia were doused with rain last week, leaving parts of Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee soaked and flooding -- again. The region's repeated natural disasters have caused heartbreak and extreme financial distress for many residents, but they have also helped Appalachian communities rely on one another. "Willa Johnson, a lifelong eastern Kentuckian, lived in McRoberts when the 2022 flood overturned her life," reports Katie Myers of Grist. "Johnson and others throughout the area feel their experience has prepared them to face future disasters with strength, and, when other rural communities go through the same experience, understand what they face and how best to help them."

In late December, Congress passed the American Relief Act, which earmarked $9.8 billion in agriculture relief payments to farmers, with a 90-day window for the Department of Agriculture to issue the checks, reports Tyne Morgan of Farm Journal. "With less than 30 days left before the deadline, farmers are asking one question: When will those payments be released? . . . .  On Thursday Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins confirmed payments will be released before the March 21 current deadline. She also outlined the timing of the $1 billion just announced to combat avian flu. Rollins is schedule to give another keynote talk today. To watch Farm Journal's most recent update interview with Rollins, click here.

Q & A: Carnegie Foundation president shares how changes in education could benefit rural students and places

Tim Knowles wants to shift American education in ways that
could help rural communities. (Courtesy photo via the Yonder)

Every president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching is asked to cast themselves into the future and make decisions about what will happen in five or even 10 years. For Tim Knowles, the foundation's 10th president, that means rethinking our educational systems and creating ways to develop rural talent and smaller-community success. An edited version of Knowles Q & A with Nick Fourienzos of The Daily Yonder is shared below.

Fouriezos: How do our current systems often miss rural students?
Knowles: Communities consistently prioritize the same core skills: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, curiosity, civic engagement, creativity, and hard work.

Think about a student in rural Iowa who wakes up at 4 a.m., works on the family farm, gets to school on time every day, does their homework, maintains good grades, and holds a weekend job. Those activities aggregated up, are clear signals of persistence. We need to figure out both how to capture that and then make it legible to employers and the post-secondary sector.

Fouriezos: How is Carnegie rethinking its classifications for post-secondary institutions?
Knowles: We’re introducing a new universal classification focused on economic opportunity. For every institution that receives federal money — about 4,000 of them — we’ll look at two main factors: access and earnings outcomes eight years after graduation.

Fouriezos: How will rural education and students be affected?
Knowles: This could particularly benefit rural institutions that serve disproportionate numbers of low-income families. About 25 states already have laws or regulations connected to the Carnegie classifications, and federal departments like NSF, NIH, and NASA use them to direct resources.

This is about making the post-secondary sector a much more vital engine for social and economic mobility. And in rural areas particularly, we need to better recognize and support the unique ways that schools and colleges contribute to their communities.

Fouriezos: Why do you feel like there is more of an appetite for actually changing higher education now, compared to in the past?
Knowles: The cost of higher education is out of reach for millions of Americans. Confidence in higher education is at an all-time low. And there are fewer college-age students in general. . . . You’re also seeing a massive lean toward Career Technical Education, with many conservative states making it more available to more students.

We need to ensure our systems are valuing and measuring the right things. By focusing on [educational] outcomes that matter, and directing public policy and public capital to the places that create genuine opportunity — even if they’re doing it in ways that don’t fit traditional models — the nation can accelerate economic opportunity for everyone.

Opinion: Growing up in Appalachia made navigating college tough. 'I felt compelled to abandon my background.'

Piper Slinka-Petka

An Appalachian student from West Virginia heads off to college at the University of Pennsylvania, dubbed "Penn" by most students, and encounters a community where she doesn't know how or when she will ever fit in and keep up with her urban counterparts. A lightly edited version of Piper Slinka-Petka's story from The Daily Pennsylvanian is shared below.

"During the same conversation, all first-year students find themselves in, state follows directly after name. Penn’s student body, while diverse, leaves many geographical regions underrepresented in their class. . . . When I reveal I am from West Virginia, home to Penn students few and far between, I get one of a few responses:

I haven’t heard that one yet. Are you the only one? (No, I am not.)

Like from the song? (Yes, the very state described by John Denver’s 1971 song, “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”)

I have family from Virginia, same thing, right? (Two different states, separated in 1863.)

"Growing up in Appalachia is an identity I spent my adolescence running away from. Portrayal in the media, such as by vice presidential candidate JD Vance’s "Hillbilly Elegy," paints Appalachia as a place for the uneducated, poverty-stricken, and lazy. The misinterpretation of rural America creates a narrative that all people inside of it are 'white, conservative, and dumb.' In conversations with other Penn students, I would explain my rural upbringing, and end with 'but at least I made it out.' I felt compelled to abandon my background to find my new place at Penn.

"It wasn’t the light pollution, lack of nature, or noise that made Penn so different — it was the culture. I found myself struggling to find an anchor with my urban peers. . . . I was always a step behind. My differences were possibly the most apparent at the dining hall. I grew up on simple, hearty foods like pepperoni rolls and baked mac & cheese — nothing like the diverse and unique food options my peers raved about. Penn’s food options felt like an entirely new language.

"The education I received, too, lacked greatly in comparison to my peers. In 2024, West Virginia was ranked the worst state for education. Approximately only 20% of West Virginians over 25 have a bachelor's degree or higher. While I’d been admitted to Penn, I was still the product of a struggling academic system. Even though I already knew my education put me at a disadvantage, I underestimated how much I would feel out of place at Penn. . . . Perhaps even more than educationally, I was lacking socially.

"Coming from a geographically underrepresented area meant I was at a disadvantage in navigating Penn. While my classmates seemed to effortlessly adjust to this new world, I felt lost grappling with new social dynamics, cuisine, and academics. The culture shock was not just locational; it was a reminder of how deeply our backgrounds influence our future. Although I felt the need to abandon my old life for Penn’s new offerings, I couldn't just put West Virginia behind me. I would have to actively work to bridge the gap between my unique upbringing and my new life at Penn. . ."

Top U.S. colleges are trying harder to recruit and retain rural students; admission offers rose by 12.9% over last year

The STARS College Network works to help rural students get into
selective colleges and succeed as undergraduate students. (Adobe Stock photo)

Rural students often graduate from high school with better grades and test scores than their suburban and urban counterparts, but that rarely leads to them graduating from top U.S. college programs. To address this disparity, the STARS College Network has been working to engage and support rural undergraduates "to feel more at home at selective colleges," reports Rebecca Koenig of EdSurge. 

The STARS program brought together "16 public and private institutions committed to improving their efforts at attracting and retaining students who grew up in rural communities," Koenig writes. "Programs at member colleges include hosting summer learning opportunities and on-campus recruitment events for high schoolers and sending more admissions staff out to high schools in small towns."

The network began in 2023 and has flourished. "The consortium announced that it is doubling its membership — to include 32 colleges and universities," Koenig explains. "This growing interest is a recognition of the fact that although federal data shows 90 percent of students from rural regions graduate from high school, only about half go directly to college."

During middle school and high school, many rural students are less likely to be exposed to higher education opportunities. Historically, more selective colleges did not actively recruit in smaller communities. "Students at rural high schools may lack access to adequate counseling about college options and financial aid," Koenig reports. "Or they may not be offered classes that selective institutions look for among applicants, such as calculus."

Rigorous recruitment efforts by STARS College Network schools created a substantial increase in college offers to rural students. Koenig adds, "STARS schools extended more than 11,000 offers of admission to the Class of 2028, which was a 12.9% increase over the number of admissions offers made to rural students in their applicant pools last year."

STARS colleges see rural student retention as equally important to admission. Each school has a structure designed to help rural students transition to bigger city and school life. Avery Simpson is a STARS mentor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She told Koenig: “Coming from a rural community, sometimes we forget we’re capable of doing what other people can do. . . . I can see the impact I’m making on these students, and I can see myself in these students.”

To view the STARS College Network list of participating institutions, click here.

Kentucky Hall of Fame journalist retires from UK, leaving a legacy of good journalism for rural folks and beyond

Dr. Jennifer Greer presenting the 2023 Polaris Award to Al Cross.
(Photo by Sydney Turner, UK College of Communications)

By Jenni Glendenning
Institute for Rural Journalism, University of Kentucky

After almost 20 years advocating for rural and community journalism in the College of Communication and Information, Al Cross is leaving the University of Kentucky as the Director Emeritus of the Institute for Rural Journalism (IRJ). Cross, who also served as an extension professor for the School of Journalism and Media, officially retires July 31.

Cross may be handing in his UK office keys, but he won’t be stepping away from journalism altogether. After all, as Cross told a colleague recently, “there is no such thing as a former journalist.”

Cross’ 27-page CV doesn’t do justice to his achievements. He graduated from Western Kentucky University and has covered every Kentucky legislative session since 1980. Right out of college, Cross edited and managed weekly newspapers in Monticello, Russellville and Leitchfield.

He then became a reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal for 26 years, including more than 15 years as a political writer (1989-2004). In 1989, he shared a Pulitzer Prize with the Courier-Journal staff, and in 2001-02 he was national president of the Society of Professional Journalists. In 2010, he was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame.

The Institute was co-founded in 2004 by Cross and Al Smith. Cross worked for Smith in Russellville and Leitchfield, and their relationship made Cross the longest-running panelist on “Comment on Kentucky” before Cross became an election-night analyst for KET.

Patti and Al Cross at the 2023 Al Smith Awards Dinner.
(Photo by Sydney Turner, UK College of Communications)

Al’s wife, Patti Hodges Cross, is from Grayson County and is an independent designer and editor of various publications. In addition to design work, Patti is treasurer and former president of the Franklin County Fair and Horse Show in Frankfort and volunteers for numerous other philanthropic events. Al and Patti have been married for more than 48 years.

Patti Cross said she looks forward to the two of them spending time in the river house they are building in Clinton County. “It will serve as a getaway place on the Cumberland River where we can entertain friends and family,” she said.

Patti Cross said they also plan to travel. “Al has been to 48 states and only needs North Dakota and Hawaii to complete his bucket list," she said.

The couple hopes to visit Germany, the place of some of Cross’ ancestors, with his brother and sister-in-law. She would also like to travel to the Mediterranean or take a European river cruise but said they won't take any major trips until after Cross finishes his book on Kentucky politician Earle Clements.

Cross’ successor at the IRJ, Benjy Hamm, joined the University of Kentucky in 2023.

“I could not think of a better successor than Benjy Hamm,” Cross said. “His career has given him a deep, broad understanding of rural journalism and its challenges.”

Hamm said that for 20 years, and across the country, Cross has been the institute's name and face.

“When I’m at different events with people, and you say you're with the Institute for Rural Journalism, they’ll say, ‘Oh, is that Al Cross?’ because that’s how he’s become identified."

Throughout Cross’ “significant and outstanding journalism career, he was able to take this institute and make it into something that has helped countless journalists and news organizations across the country,” Hamm said.

“Al has been very gracious to me to make sure that my focus is on the Institute and making it go forward for the future,” Hamm said. “He understands that it will change with subsequent directors, and over the course of years, it will change, and he is wholeheartedly in support of that… He’s not someone who thinks that the Institute should stay the same as it was 10 or 20 years ago.”

Al Cross and Benjy Hamm host a workshop panel at the National Summit
on Journalism in Rural America, July 2023. (Photo by Heather Close, IRJ)

Cross and Hamm have known one another for more than 20 years. Hamm was the editorial director of Landmark Community Newspapers, which had a division in Shelbyville, Ky., where he and Cross interacted quite frequently since Landmark, at the time, owned the most newspapers in the state.

“The institute is integral to the service and outreach missions of our college and UK,” said Jennifer Greer, dean of the College of Communication and Information. “The work that Al Cross and his team do supports local journalists and rural communities throughout the nation at a time when the need for accurate and trusted information is needed more than ever. We are thrilled to have Benjy carry on this important work.”

The Institute's Administrative Coordinator and rural blog writer, Heather Close, called working with Cross a “journey of learning and discovery.”

“I have never read so many things in all my life or looked at so many maps,” Close said. “Al pushed me to look at writing more critically and opened my eyes to resources I never knew existed. I'm grateful for the lessons. I hope he enjoys retirement, but I know we'll be seeing him at this year's Al Smith Awards Dinner.”

Cross leaves a legacy of achievement through the IRJ.

“Our overall aim is to help life in rural America and rural Kentucky,” Cross said. “We operate under the proposition that rural Americans deserve good journalism as much as anybody else in America.”

When Cross received the new Al Smith Polaris Award in 2023, recognizing distinguished service to community journalism, an audience member called him “a kind of North Star for the field of rural editors.”

Although those at UK might not see Cross striding through the halls, all will still see his name in the media as he continues to advocate for newspaper readership and good journalism in Kentucky.

Cross said he is looking forward to writing books and the occasional column.

Cross has dedicated his life to serving his community and reporting, so it was no surprise to anyone who knows him – or knows of him – that even in his retirement, he won’t stop doing what he loves.

Jenni Glendenning

Author’s personal note: I had the pleasure of serving as the David Hawpe fellow for the Institute during 2024, Cross’ last summer at the University of Kentucky. The knowledge and information I gained from this man in three short months were invaluable to my academic career and personal development. Al and Patti are true exemplars of everything Kentuckians strive to be: Kind, caring, compassionate, and brilliant. I will undoubtedly miss my daily communication with Cross. I cannot wait to read his books! All the best to Al and his family. 

 

Some colleges offer a 3-year bachelor's degrees to address student expenses and lower enrollment numbers

Colleges are piloting 3-year degree programs in
several states. (Adobe Stock photo)

Amid decreasing enrollment and increasing student costs, some colleges are offering three-year degrees as a solution. "The programs, which also are being tried at some private schools, would require 90 credits instead of the traditional 120 for a bachelor's degree and wouldn't require summer classes or studying over breaks. In some cases, the degrees would be designed to fit industry needs," reports Elaine S. Povich of Stateline. "Proponents of the three-year degree programs say they save students money and set them on a faster track to their working life. But detractors, including some faculty, say they shortchange students."

Utah is one state where the board of higher education approved the 3-year degree. "Various areas of study would be tied to specific industry needs, with fewer electives required," Povich explains. "These degrees are broader than two-year associate degrees but narrower than a full four-year bachelor's."

Geoff Landward, commissioner of the Utah System of Higher Education, told Povich, "We told the institutions to start working on them now and developing the curriculum. We want them to find industry partners that would be willing to hire people with bachelor's degrees of this type. . . . If we are partnering with industry and they help us develop it, I don't think it cheapens the degree. I think it creates a very specific degree."

The new three-year degree programs requiring fewer credits would still need national accreditation.

Changing social views on the importance of a college degree are some of the reasons colleges are getting creative. "A Pew Research Center survey found only 1 in 4 American adults said it is extremely or very important to have a four-year college degree to get a good-paying job," Povich reports. "More than a dozen public and private universities are participating in a pilot collaboration called the College-in-3 Exchange to begin considering how they could offer three-year programs." 

New doctors are avoiding abortion ban states, new analysis shows. Restrictions may add to mutiple-care shortages.

Fewer new doctors are applying for residency in
abortion ban states. (Hush Naidoo Jade photo, Unsplash)

States with significant restrictions or bans on  abortions may be inadvertently discouraging graduating medical students from applying for residency in their state, which could exacerbate regional physician shortages. Julie Rovner and Rachana Pradhan of KFF Health News report, "According to new statistics from the Association of American Medical Colleges, for the second year in a row, students graduating from U.S. medical schools were less likely to apply this year for residency positions in states with abortion bans and other significant abortion restrictions."

State battles over abortion aren't limited to uncertainties for doctors and pregnant patients; the tensions have "also bled into the world of medical education, forcing some new doctors to factor state abortion laws into their decisions about where to begin their careers," Rovner and Pradhan write. "Fourteen states, primarily in the Midwest and South, have banned nearly all abortions. . . . A preliminary review of a new analysis by the AAMC found that the number of applicants to residency programs in states with near-total abortion bans declined by 4.2%, compared with a 0.6% drop in states where abortion remains legal."

The AAMC's analysis shows that when new doctors start avoiding certain states, those states gain fewer doctors, which adds to regional physician shortages in many specialties. KFF Health News reports, "The organization tracked a larger decrease in interest in residencies in states with abortion restrictions not only among those in specialties most likely to treat pregnant patients, like OB-GYNs and emergency room doctors, but also among aspiring doctors in other specialties."

The number of new doctors applying for OB-GYN and internal medicine residency slots in those states "dropped 6.7%, compared with a 0.4% increase in states where abortion remains legal," Rovner and Pradhan explain. "For internal medicine, the drop observed in abortion ban states was over five times as much as in states where abortion is legal."

Student journalists get on-the-ground training at campus protests; some were beaten and threatened with arrests

Student journalist face tough crowds and strict policing
while reporting on campus protests. (Adobe Stock photo)

Amid angry crowds of their peers and responding law enforcement, student journalists are tasked with reporting on campus protests, leaving them in an uncomfortable fray where safety isn't guaranteed. "They're immersed in the story in ways journalists for major media organizations often can't be," report David Bauder and Christine Fernando of The Associated Press. "They face dual challenges — as members of the media and students at the institutions they are covering."

Even as the crisis heated up, student journalists worked to report on it -- even when their efforts were thwarted. AP reports, ". . . a student-run radio station broadcast live as police cleared a building taken by protesters on the Columbia University campus, while other student journalists were confined to dorms and threatened with arrests."

Some student reporters learned first-hand how dangerous angry crowds can become. Bauder and Fernando report, "Ordered by police to leave the scene of a UCLA campus protest after violence broke out, Catherine Hamilton and three colleagues from the Daily Bruin suddenly found themselves surrounded by demonstrators who beat, kicked and sprayed them with a noxious chemical."

Despite the attack, Hamilton, 21, remains adamant that she will continue to report on the protests. She told AP: “While it was terrifying. . . the experience confirmed for me the importance of student journalists because we know our campus better than any outside reporter would. It has not deterred me from wanting to continue this coverage.”

Chris Mandell, a student journalist at Columbia University, was covering the story, but his reporting was stymied by law enforcement. "Even though he wore a badge identifying him as a member of the press, police ordered him and other reporters for the Columbia Daily Spectator into a dormitory," AP reports. "When he tried to open the door, Mandell said he was told he’d be arrested if he did it again."

For young journalists, this is a rough training ground. "Students [face] grappling with complicated editorial decisions for some of the first times in their careers," write Bauder and Fernando. "They confront the awkwardness of reporting on their peers and the challenge not to get swept up in emotion."

Josie Stewart, managing editor for content at Ohio State’s Lantern, told AP: "Every journalist has to balance ethical concerns, but it is more difficult when you’re staring someone in the face in class.”

Here are some of the student publications covering the protests as referenced by AP:

• Columbia University’s Daily Columbia Spectator
• Northeastern University’s Huntington Daily News
• Ohio State University’s The Lantern
• UCLA’s Daily Bruin
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Daily Tar Heel

Eye-popping college costs vs. what students actually pay; research report looks at higher education comparisons

Brookings graph, from Department of Education data

Younger generations may be bypassing college due to its eye-popping costs, but research shows that few students pay the "listed" price. "Public discussions regarding rising college costs typically focus on the listed cost of attendance (COA), or 'sticker price.' High and rising college sticker prices are the subject of considerable attention, reports Phillip Levine for Brookings. But the sticker price isn't what families pay. "The average amount students actually pay (the 'net price') has recently stabilized and even fallen in the last few years."

Levine's research concluded that "sticker price is an increasingly poor indicator of college prices for all students, regardless of family income. . . . The growing use of merit-based aid at both public and private institutions accounts for this. At public institutions, the vast majority (79%) of those higher-income students paid the full sticker price in 1995-1996. That share dropped to 47% in 2019-2020."

While the net price for a student attending a public institution has risen, "This upward drift in net prices at public 4-year institutions indicates that they are becoming increasingly more expensive over time for students at all levels of the income distribution. The increase for higher-income families was larger in dollar terms but roughly similar in percentage terms," Levine writes. "That maximum net price is often lower than the sticker price because of the extensive use of merit awards." Net price at private institutions is "consistently higher than at public institutions."

While net prices have increased for all students across all income levels, those increases are smaller than the stated hikes in sticker prices. Levine reports, "Adjusted for inflation, net prices paid by students today at public institutions across the income distribution are similar to those they would have paid at private institutions in the mid-1990s."

Levine adds, "This analysis yields several implications for policy discussions regarding college pricing. First, the nearly universal focus on the sticker price in public discourse is detrimental to our understanding of college costs. It is the easiest measure to track, but it is a misleading statistic that a small and declining number of students pay. Even many higher-income families do not pay the full sticker price."

Many high school graduates are choosing vocational training for trades that pay well and don't require 4-year degrees

Trade education is less expensive and offers good wages.
(Photo by Robert Lambert, Unsplash)

For decades, U.S. high school graduates who wanted to make a decent living went to college, but as skilled labor numbers have dwindled and higher education costs have soared, Generation Z is donning tool belts and embracing the trades, reports Te-Ping Chen of The Wall Street Journal. "Skilled trades are newly appealing to the youngest cohort of American workers. . . Rising pay and new technologies in fields from welding to machine tooling are giving trade professions a face-lift, helping them shed the image of being dirty, low-end work."

The cost of a college degree has made it less appealing to some high school graduates. "Enrollment in vocational training programs is surging as overall enrollment in community colleges and four-year institutions has fallen," Chen writes. "The number of students enrolled in vocational-focused community colleges rose 16% last year to its highest level since the National Student Clearinghouse began tracking such data in 2018."

For some potential students, work that means sitting at a computer all day isn't appealing, but learning a hands-on trade for good pay seems to offer more rewards. "'Not everyone needs a degree, and it takes the value out of a degree if everyone has it,' says George Belcher, 18, a high school senior in Texas. Belcher long assumed he'd go to college, but. . . he grew curious about life in the oil industry," Chen reports. "This fall, he'll enroll in trade school for $14,000 for a two-year degree and plans to work on an offshore oil rig. 'I love the ocean,' he says. He also likes the idea of working for weeks, then resting for weeks, a schedule typical with such roles."

Overall, many trade-oriented employers see their labor pipelines refilling. "At energy service company Lantern Energy, in Glastonbury, Conn., CEO Peter Callan says in the past year, he has seen more people applying for technician jobs who were on a college track and decided it wasn't ultimately for them," Chen adds. "The overall number of applications the company receives has roughly tripled in the past five years."

In Montana, the cost of living and lack of affordable housing and child care contribute to growing workforce shortages

Rural Montana is a 'canary in the coal mine' for severe 
 labor shortages in needed sectors. (N. Fouriezos photo)

Across the country, the need for a younger workforce to fill a wide range of positions is reaching a critical point, but particularly for rural areas. Students and potential workers face a range of obstacles that prevent them from filing those roles, reports Nick Fouriezos of The Daily Yonder. In Montana, medical, academic and labor professionals are working to address these issues.

Lindsey Flather from Bitterroot Valley, Montana, is the kind of student Montana's new strategies aim to help. Fouriezos writes, "A working mother in her thirties, Flather decided to pursue a new career in health care. . . . And she is urgently needed. In Montana, 52 of 56 counties — including Ravalli County — are considered medically underserved, and nearly half of the state’s nurses say they plan on retiring or leaving the profession in the next five years."

Like many of her fellow students, Flather has faced long commutes for classes, a lack of child care options, and juggling to make work and school mend together. "At the same time, employers are desperate to get more people through these workforce pipelines," Fouriezos explains. "They, too, are challenged by geography, says Rebecca Conroy, the chief transformational officer at Bitterroot Health, a regional hospital in western Montana."

Yet even when needed professionals, such as medical assistants, graduate they often can't afford to live in the county where they are needed most. "The median rent in Hamilton, Bitterroot Valley's biggest town, is now $2,087, up 30% over the previous year," Fouriezos reports. "The lack of affordable housing makes it almost impossible to recruit out-of-towners, and the in-town workforce is drying up. The talent pipeline is thin, Conroy says. And the pressure is only growing."

"Employers like Conroy are the canaries in the coal mine of a growing talent shortage nationwide. So smoothing the route to jobs like medical assisting has become a key focus of Montana’s government and educational infrastructure," Fouriezos writes. "The state’s colleges recently partnered with the national nonprofit Education Design Lab to interview Conroy and local business leaders statewide about how they might create new educational opportunities, like a set of micro-credentials to allow people to build key skills in shorter courses over time."