Three essays on rural-nonrural disparities in postsecondary access and success

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI SYSTEM AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] While a college degree is increasingly a crucial pathway to achieve success in the U.S labor market, recent estimates indicate that 20% of rural young adults have a college degree, as compared to 38% of their peers in nonrural areas. Despite the low college attainment rates in rural areas, however, existing research on barriers that inhibit rural students' college access and success is still limited. I extent the existing literature by exploring three different but interlinked topics. In the first essay, I use regression discontinuity to test whether rural students are more likely than their colleagues from non-rural backgrounds to respond negatively to being placed on academic probation and exit college before graduation. In the second essay, I examine the link between advanced math course taking and rural-nonrural gaps in enrollment rates in four-year colleges. Finally, in the third essay, I document the extent of the rural-nonrural gap in postsecondary engineering and computer science (ECS) degree attainment and major choice. These essays highlight that rural students, particularly those who come from remote areas, are less likely than their nonrural peers to take advanced courses, to enroll in four-year colleges, to earn an engineering degree, and to persist in college when placed on academic probation.