Rural-Nonrural College Enrollment Gaps: The Complicated Role of Socioeconomic Status

• In Event: Rural Students and College Access

Abstract

Rural students enroll in college at lower rates than nonrural students, which has been partially attributed to lower average socioeconomic status (SES) in rural areas. However, there is an ignored heterogeneity of SES and the purpose of this study, therefore, is to investigate how rural-nonrural differences in college going may look differently based on SES. Framed conceptually by economic and cultural capital, analyses reveal that a) with newer data rural students actually do not differ from nonrural students by SES, b) rural status still predicts lower college enrollment rates, and c) the enrollment gap between rural and nonrural students is primarily a gap for low- and middle-SES students, whereas the highest SES students do not differ much from one another.

Authors

• Ryan S. Wells, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

• Ling Chen, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

• Genia Bettencourt, The University of Memphis

• Sarah Haas, University of Massachusetts - Amherst