Top rural students not going to prestigious universities?

As one of the only students from my high school to EVER attend a school outside the Great Plains let alone the East Coast, I definitely believe that there is a problem in the disparity between the number of urban and suburban students who attend top tier universities and the number of rural students. Most of my classmates at NYU were from suburban and urban areas; I was a cultural oddity within the university and I never forgot it.

I think it would do top tier universities well to recruit more students from rural areas, and it would do rural educators well to encourage students to attend top tier universities. There is a lot the universities and students could learn from each other.

Check out the article about a study done on the subject by the University of Michigan in the Daily Yonder.

As one quote in the story points out, there is definitely a lack of understanding between universities and rural students:

“It was the polite but clueless contempt for my way of life that made me uncomfortable at Yale. Classmates and faculty who invested great effort in the study of third world societies knew nothing about America. I put up with it because the resources and contacts made available to students there were superb.”

I, for one, have to say I agree.