Recruit & Retain Rural Students – On-Demand Training

Practice and Policy Solutions Across Institutional Types

Rural students are becoming a population increasingly focused on by higher education institutions, particularly as colleges and universities work to enroll and graduate more students from rural areas. However, they often feel ostracized from and in higher education spaces because institutions may not be completely prepared to support their access, enrollment and degree attainment. It is imperative that institutions break down barriers to their success.

Create programs and initiatives that provide the critical foundation needed to help rural students – who face the lowest college enrollment and attainment rates – so they can engage and thrive on your campus. 

Our expert presenter will offer a crucial review of quantitative statistics and qualitative data that depict what “rural” really looks like in America. He will share effective rural recruitment and intentional retention strategies so you can better design programs and initiatives to become an institution that effectively serves rural students.

Topics Covered

As a result of this online learning experience, you will be able to:

• Understand the diversity of Rural America – review recent qualitative statistics and quantitative data so you can develop institution-specific strategies that will reach this often overlooked and underserved population.
• Create effective rural recruitment and intentional retention strategies – devise comprehensive programs and initiatives designed especially for rural students, their families, high schools and communities.
• Recognize the unique challenges for access/enrollment experiences for rural students – overcome the barriers so you can identify specific opportunities in recruiting rural students, including timelines for pipeline development, approach and messaging, school and community points of contact and output expectations.
• Create community-based partnerships to support rural retention – utilize retention efforts that validate and leverage the strength and resilience rural students get from home.
• Establish institutional priorities regarding rural retention – put systems in place to not only enroll these students to your institution, but also to support their academic persistence towards graduation.
• Consider rural populations when crafting and implementing higher education practice and policy efforts on your campus. 
  

Presenter

Ty McNamee is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of Mississippi and will be starting as an Assistant Professor of Educational Policy Studies & Evaluation at the University of Kentucky in early July. He completed his doctorate in Higher and Postsecondary Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Click here for full bio.