Rural Students in Higher Education: From College Preparation and Enrollment to Experiences and Persistence

ABSTRACT The National Rural Education Association’s (NREA) 2016–2021 10 Research Priorities include college enrollment and preparation as well as experiences and persistence patterns for rural populations. Recent years witnessed increases in educational research, practice, and policy, around rural college students, yet these efforts focus predominantly on K-12 college preparation and enrollment, not postsecondary experiences and persistence for this population. Using integrative literature review methods, authors synthesize, relate, and contrast 41 pieces of scholarship on the nuanced experiences and persistence of rural students in higher education. Based on this review, a discussion is presented that summarizes, critiques, and offers insights into future research priorities related to rural students’ postsecondary experiences and persistence (complicated and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic). Implications for education practice and policy are offered to empower rural K-12 schools, community members, families, higher education practitioners, and policymakers to support rural students prior to and during their college years. Authors conclude that illuminating the benefits of rural students’ college attainment to rural communities, educational institutions, and the students themselves and provide a call to action to focus on the postsecondary experiences and persistence of students from rural areas.