SMU joins network to recruit and support students from small towns and rural areas
STARS College Network opens doors to higher education for students less likely to attend college
DALLAS (SMU) – SMU is taking new steps to recruit students from small towns and rural areas by joining the STARS College Network, a $150 million initiative to prepare, recruit and support students who are less likely to attend college than their urban counterparts.
Students from small towns and rural areas graduate from high school at the same rate as those from metro areas, but they are 32 percent less likely to attend college, according to the Progressive Policy Institute. Texas has more rural students than any other state.
found a tight-knit community at SMU similar
to the community he grew up with in Utopia.
“Many incredibly talented students attend high schools outside of a large city or suburban area, and they bring unique perspectives to our campuses,” says Wes Waggoner SMU vice provost for enrollment management and chief enrollment officer. “SMU and other universities in the STARS College Network are among the best in the country. We have a record of providing these students the opportunities and resources to succeed both academically in college and professionally in their careers. Through the STARS network, SMU will match students from small towns and rural areas with important resources, opening the doors to a college experience they might not have considered.”
The STARS College Network, launched last year with a $20 million gift from the Trott Family Philanthropies, originally included 16 selective colleges and universities. This summer the network added 16 more universities, including SMU, Duke University and University of Notre Dame. SMU and UT Austin are the only two universities in Texas invited to be part of the STARS College Network. Through STARS universities, prospective students have access to resources such as online math courses and tutoring, career planning, visits to colleges and participation in summer pre-college programs.
As a STARS university, here's how SMU plans to initiate outreach to students from small towns and rural areas:
- Bring SMU to rural regions. Provide in-person information sessions including family and student resources such as essay-writing, financial literacy and career workshops.
- Provide transportation and housing to bring rural students and high school counselors to SMU for tours and information sessions. Create a dialog to learn how to best serve rural students.
- Create a new student organization for current and incoming students from small towns and rural areas that will provide support and resources.
HELP FROM PEOPLE WHO KNOW
SMU higher education researcher Ashley Stone studies rural students and higher education. A native of Winnsboro, Texas, population 3,000, she understands the challenges unique to rural students.
“As early as seventh grade, students begin wrestling with the tension that exists between their desire to remain in their rural community and concerns that the community will be unable to support their career aspirations,” she says.
Other students seek to leave their communities to experience a different world view, she said.
No matter the motivation, Stone’s research found one key common denominator that factored into rural students’ likelihood to attend college – support from their families and mentors.
is one of a handful of graduates from her senior class
who chose the leave the state to attend college.
“While rural students may face unique challenges in navigating the larger more crowded spaces of many university campuses or establishing new social networks on campus, they often come to campus with a strong support network and work ethic that can sustain them,” Stone says.
Two SMU juniors are ready to help with another kind of network, having cemented their friendship over their shared small-town histories soon after arriving on campus. This fall, Savannah Hunsucker and Payton Deichler will head up a new student organization supported by STARS for other students from small towns.
Hunsucker is one of a handful of graduates from her senior class of 230 who chose to leave her home state to attend college, with the full support of her mom. Hailing from a regional high school near her home in Walton, Kansas, the business major is considering attending law school when she graduates, then living in a city like Dallas.
Deichler can’t imagine growing up anywhere but his hometown of Utopia, Texas, in the region’s scenic Hill Country. Being from a small town will always be part of his identity, he says. Don’t underestimate the increase in academic difficulty and do expect a different social dynamic, he advises incoming students from towns like Utopia. But be assured, he says, students can also find the sense of community that they knew in their hometowns.