Rural Culture and Heritage: Place-Attachment in Rural Community College Students as Motivation for Staying Local

• In Event: 52.077 - How Far to Go? Rural Postsecondary Choices

Abstract

Rural students who aspire to higher education are usually encouraged to go away to college and those who go the furthest are often regarded as the most successful. Those who stay are sometimes regarded as those who couldn’t make it in the outside world.

Some rural students, however, choose to both stay close to home and to pursue higher education by enrolling at a local community college. This qualitative study of rural community college students in Southern Oregon explored the influence of place-attachment on rural community college students’ decisions to attend college close to home. The study found that participants reported place and family attachment as primary influences on their choices.

Author

• Jesse Moon Longhurst, Southern Oregon University