Rural undergraduate students at flagship universities in the United States are typically outnumbered by their urban and suburban peers. Students from rural demographic backgrounds bring different forms of social and cultural capital to higher education with them. This phenomenological study at a flagship university in the Deep South region of the United States examines their experiences through the lens of Constructed Environment Perspectives to assess how rural students evaluate their sense of fit at an institution of higher education. Rural students in this study noted that they began their first year of postsecondary education with a smaller social network than their nonrural peers. When necessary, rural students adapted their social and cultural capital to experience a better sense of fit by connecting with nonrural students in communal settings or by changing symbols of their cultural and social capital. Participants in this study found the residence halls to be a space that was particularly helpful in their adjustment to university life.

The purpose of this narrative analysis was to assess the perceived curricular offerings and challenges of traditional-aged rural students in higher education, and to understand how these challenges relate to AP courses. Specifically, this study assessed the secondary curricular offerings available to rural students and how they affect their perceptions of success in the postsecondary environment. I conducted phenomenological interviews with 18 students and uncovered several key findings. Rural students in this study reported that Advanced Placement (AP) courses were critical to their preparation for higher education, but that these courses' availability was limited in their schools. Participants in this study reported feeling a loss of self-efficacy and perceived shift in identity due to their lack of advanced curricular offerings, especially AP courses. As a result, rural youth in this study reported being behind their peers in terms of credit-hour production by one to two academic years. Participants in this study felt that there was a particular lack of AP courses in science and math fields in their high school, which impacted their decision to enter a STEM field.

Rural undergraduate students at flagship universities in the United States are typically outnumbered by their urban and suburban peers. Students from rural demographic backgrounds bring different forms of social and cultural capital to higher education with them. This phenomenological study at a flagship university in the Deep South region of the United States examines their experiences through the lens of Constructed Environment Perspectives to assess how rural students evaluate their sense of fit at an institution of higher education. Rural students in this study noted that they began their first year of postsecondary education with a smaller social network than their nonrural peers. When necessary, rural students adapted their social and cultural capital to experience a better sense of fit by connecting with nonrural students in communal settings or by changing symbols of their cultural and social capital. Participants in this study found the residence halls to be a space that was particularly helpful in their adjustment to university life.

This basic qualitative study assessed students’ perceptions of affordable learning materials in an asynchronous master’s level research methods course at a regional university. Students preferred instructor-created mini-lectures (45%) more than required readings (39%), supplementary items concerning a specific topic (7%), sample studies (5%), CITI training modules (3%), and continuing education materials (2%). We found that students tended to prefer material that offered foundational information about research methods. Students also preferred material that “translated” academic language. Students preferred materials that were compatible with their perceived learning style. Finally, students preferred materials that related research methods to their own professional practice.

This qualitative phenomenological study sought to understand rural students' college-going decisions through the lens of socioeconomic status, social capital, and Perna's nested model of college choice. The sample included 18 students who were undergraduates at a selective R1 university in the Southeastern United States. Rural first-generation students reported that they received little practical advice from adults in their family, school, or community. Rural students' choice to take adult advice seemed to be dependent on their family's education background. Family connection was the most common reason for students to choose to attend a selective university if they were not a first-generation college student. Distance to institution was not a major factor in the participant's decision to attend the university. The students in this study were highly influenced by the policy environment of the state in which they live; a state-wide merit-based scholarship provided all the students, regardless of first-generation status, a motivation to attend what they considered to be the best public school in the state, while still receiving a significant discount on their tuition.

College and career readiness has become a national education policy priority. With more than 9.3 million rural students in the United States, the college and career readiness of rural students is a warranted priority for rural education researchers. Using a combination of Conley’s (2012) college and career readiness model, Perna’s (2006) nested model of college choice, and Social Cognitive Career Theory (Lent et al., 2014), we systematically reviewed and analyzed the extant literature on rural students’ college and career readiness. In addition to providing a comprehensive discussion of the prominent themes in the literature, we provide recommendations for future research on rural students’ college and career readiness as well as changes to college and career readiness standards and practices that would better align with the strengths and needs of rural students, schools, and communities.

abstract: This secondary data analysis of federal budget data sought to understand the impact of U.S. Senate reconciliation measures on higher education funding. Reconciliation is a process by which the U.S. Senate passes budgetary measures by only requiring a simple majority. Using data from federal budgets that stretched from the end of the Carter administration to the end of the Obama administration, this study shows that higher education receives more overall funding from the federal government when a budget is passed, rather than through a reconciliation bill. In the 30 years where a budget was passed, higher education mandatory spending saw an increase of 242 percent. In the seven years a conciliation bill was passed, mandatory spending for higher education decreased by 346percent. There appears to be no connection between American political party and the decision to use reconciliation in higher education, as Democratic controlled Senates have passed reconciliation bills three times, with two increasing higher education funding and one decreasing. Republican controlled Senates have passed reconciliation twice, with one increasing and one decreasing funding to higher education. Our analysis shows that advocates for higher education should seek policy reform in the traditional budget passage process, rather than through reconciliation.

ACROSS THE COUNTRY, much attention continues to focus on educational attainment. Specifically, Americans are growing concerned about no longer being first in the proportion of citizens with a postsecondary degree. In 2000, the United States was the world leader in college completion, i.e., the proportion of a country's adult population age 25-34 with college degrees. But this is no longer the case as the United States' global ranking for college completion dropped to 10th in 2009 (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2010) and further declined to 16th in 2011 (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2011). The Lumina Foundation recently released a special report, A Stronger Nation, laying out how the United States can once again be number one in educational attainment. The foundation theorizes that each state must bring up attainment to 60 percent by 2025 (Lumina Foundation 2012). Community colleges clearly must play a significant role in order to achieve this goal. However, following the recent severe recession and in an era of deep and lasting budget cuts, many of the nation's two-year colleges have struggled to meet enrollment demands (Katsinas, D'Amico, and Friedel 2011a). The community college is a portal of entry into U.S. higher education for millions of academically-talented minority and low-income students. These colleges serve more traditionalage first-generation students than do other sectors; they also serve large numbers of adult students. In addition, the current economic environment has focused attention on the workforce development mission of community colleges and their capacity to expand our skilled labor force. Writing in 1994, the late Clark Kerr predicted Tidal Wave II, which he characterized as the wave of grandchildren of World War II GIs who would hit traditional college-going years starting in 1996 (Kerr 1994). This indeed did occur: in 1996, there were 19.3 million 18- to 24-year-olds in the American population; this figure jumped to 23.7 million in 2009 and jumped again to 24.6 million in 2012. Thus, between 2009 and 2012, there were one million more Americans of traditional college-going age--and this demographic reality occurred whether or not our nation and states were in recession and whether or not our institutions were funded to serve it (DeMonBrun, Hardy, and Katsinas 2009). This stress was previously documented in our past annual surveys of National Council of State Directors of Community College (NCSDCC) members. In 2009, we found that 12 states reported capped enrollments at their public flagship universities, including four of the five largest, and that seven states reported capped enrollments at their public regional universities, including three of the five largest (Katsinas and Tollefson 2009). Capped enrollments at elite private and public flagship universities have caused a capacity problem at community colleges. As a result, the expansion of community colleges will be necessary in order to increase graduation rates. These and related issues are particularly relevant to the members of the NCSDCC, who frequently address issues of policy and practice related to access, success, and funding in the nation's two-year colleges. The University of Alabama's Education Policy Center documents these state-level community college perspectives annually through the Access and Funding in Public Higher Education report series (Katsinas, D'Amico, and Friedel 2011a). Specifically, this article discusses college degree completion issues from the perspective of those responsible for the coordination, supervision, and management of community colleges. It also includes an analysis that builds upon survey data presented in our 2011 issue brief Challenging Success: Can College Degree Completion Be Increased as States Cut Budgets? (Katsinas, D'Amico, and Friedel 2011b). THE RECENT BARRIERS TO AND FACILITATORS OF SUCCESS IN THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE SECTOR Our previous reports described many of the barriers that community colleges face when working to meet education and workforce needs. …

This study was published November 26, 2012, by the Education Policy Center at The University of Alabama. Commissioned by Alabama Commission on Higher Education.

This material was published December, 2012, by the Education Policy Center at The University of Alabama.

This report was published in January, 2013, by the Education Policy Center at The University of Alabama.