Improving Rural Students’ College Persistence: Using Cultural Assets and Innovative Programming for College Completion

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Rural students bring distinctive cultural assets, community connections, and place-based knowledge to postsecondary education, while navigating contexts that may not recognize or build upon these strengths. This symposium presents research from the National Rural Higher Education Research Center examining evidence-based strategies for enhancing rural students' postsecondary persistence and completion across diverse institutional contexts. Three studies address critical opportunities in rural higher education: an experimental evaluation of comprehensive student support programming, place-based nursing education models, and access and navigation for rural Black students. Utilizing randomized controlled trials, participatory action research, and mixed-methods case studies, these investigations provide promising practices for enhancing completion outcomes while acknowledging rural students' cultural. These practices have the potential to inform institutional practices and policy development.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Rural Education

Chair

• Sabrina Klein, MDRC

Papers

• Montana 10 Randomized Controlled Trial: Experimental Evidence for Comprehensive Rural Student Support - Alyssa Ratledge, MDRC

• Train in Place: Place-Based Nursing Education Models in the Rural Mountain West - Colleen Falkenstern, Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education

• Rural Black Students' HBCU Access and Navigation in Alabama's Black Belt - Travis C. Smith, Alabama State University

Session Organizer

• Marjorie L. Dorime-Williams, MDRC

Discussant

• Marjorie L. Dorime-Williams, MDRC