Can the entire community help rural kids get to college?

The sixth annual Rural Summit held in Lexington, Ky., brought together education leaders and advocates to address the challenges faced by rural students in accessing higher education. Despite rural students graduating from high school at higher rates than their urban and suburban peers, only about 55 percent go directly to college. The summit highlighted the barriers that rural students face, including financial constraints, transportation issues, lack of internet connectivity, and family responsibilities.

Speakers at the summit emphasized the importance of place-based partnerships, collaborations among local organizations to improve outcomes for students and families. Russell Booker, CEO of the Spartanburg Academic Movement, stressed that schools alone are not the solution, and it takes a community-wide effort to support rural students.

Initiatives highlighted at the summit included the Rural Educator Academy launched by the Community Colleges of Appalachia to better meet the needs of students in rural Appalachia. Additionally, the Hawaii-based nonprofit organization Kinai ʻEha is working to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline for native Hawaiian and Micronesian youth through a trauma-informed program.

Rural alliances in states like Indiana and Texas are also providing high schoolers with career and technical education to expand access to post-secondary pathways and combat skilled worker shortages in rural areas. These efforts aim to create more opportunities for rural students to access college and careers that are prevalent in their regions.

The summit, hosted by Partners for Rural Impact, focused on bringing together stakeholders from pre-K, K-12, and higher education to discuss the holistic support needed for rural students from “the cradle to career spectrum.” The goal is to ensure that rural students have the resources and support they need to succeed academically and beyond.