AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS — The STARS College Network received a $150 million infusion from Byron Trott's foundation this month and doubled its membership from 16 to 32 selective colleges. The expanded roster includes Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford and Yale.
Trott initially invested $20 million to start the network, whose name stands for Small Town and Rural Students. Each member institution agreed to recruit at rural high schools seldom visited by university admissions officers. More than 90,000 rural students applied to STARS member institutions last year, a 15% increase over the previous year.
"This process is moving into not just the 'to college' part but the 'through college' part," said Marjorie Betley, deputy director of admissions at the University of Chicago and STARS executive director. "Until recently, we haven't shown up, and we haven't shown them that we are people who you can trust," she added.
Nearly a quarter of the American population is rural. When Trott attended the University of Chicago, only 3% of students there were from rural areas. A 2019 study found selective colleges were more likely to visit higher-income public and private high schools in cities and suburbs than rural schools.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, 90% of rural students graduate from high school. National Student Clearinghouse Research Center figures show that a little more than half of rural high school graduates go straight to college, a share that has declined since 2016. By comparison, nearly 60% of urban graduates and 63% of suburban graduates go directly to college. Rural students who enroll are more likely to drop out than urban and suburban classmates and less likely to graduate than suburban students. Most rural students who continue their education go to a community college or the local branch of the state university rather than to selective institutions.
A Quinnipiac University poll found rural Americans are less likely than urban or suburban Americans to think college benefits students and more likely to believe it has a negative effect on political views and personal values.
Jack Hancock, a high school senior from Milford, Pennsylvania, a town of about 1,100 on the state's eastern border with New Jersey, described his reaction to outreach from selective schools. "I was frankly sort of shocked that they cared about rural students," he said. Of his classmates and their parents, Hancock said, "A lot of people don't think it's worth it."
Olivia Meier, a high school senior from Chugiak, Alaska, attends a school where 91% of students graduate, higher than the national average, but only 48% of graduates go on to college. "I was absolutely shocked, because for me those schools were always something far out that wouldn't necessarily be available to me," she said.
"The first is cost, and the second is not knowing what we're capable of," Meier said. "It's really easy to doubt yourself when applying to schools like this."
Amherst College offered an in-person overnight visit specifically for rural students, a two-day program at its campus that included activities such as building a fire to make s'mores.