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Creating new pathways to college for small-town, rural students

Northwestern joins 15 other universities in STARS College Network, designed to empower students in the college application process and beyond
April 4, 2023 | By Erin Karter
STARS college network
As a first-generation, low-income student, Brooke Slonaker realized at a young age she would need to figure out how to get to college herself.

Nestled along the shores of Flathead Lake and a short jaunt by boat to the pristine Wild Horse Island, Dayton, Montana, is more nature than town. It is home to 111 residents, according to the 2020 Census, a handful of businesses, a post office and a small elementary school, where Brooke Slonaker was one of three students in her class.

“I’ve had a very rural experience, very ‘middle of nowhere,’” said Slonaker, a first-year student at Northwestern University. As a first-generation, low-income student, Slonaker realized at a young age she would need to figure out how to get to college herself.

“While neither of my parents went to college, my mom especially always wished she had,” she said. “They set that seed and showed me a good work ethic, and I had to take it from there.”

Sixteen of the nation’s most prominent colleges and universities, including Northwestern, have teamed up in a new effort to help students, from small-town and rural America, like Slonaker, enroll in, succeed at, and graduate from the undergraduate program of their choice.

The STARS College Network (Small-Town And Rural Students) will build on efforts to create new pathways to college for students who might not otherwise recognize the full range of educational opportunities available to them. It is supported by a $20 million gift from Trott Family Philanthropies, the foundation of Byron and Tina Trott.

“Our hometowns, our families’ finances and our parents’ educations often define us in many ways, but they must not determine our access to learning,” said Northwestern President Michael Schill, a first-generation college student. “We are excited to be part of the STARS College Network, which will open the world to many students who can benefit from additional support getting into and succeeding in college.”

In addition to Northwestern, the network includes Brown University, California Institute of Technology, Case Western Reserve University, Colby College, Columbia University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Ohio State University, University of Chicago, University of Iowa, University of Maryland, University of Southern California, University of Wisconsin, Vanderbilt University, Washington University in St. Louis, and Yale University.

Member institutions said STARS will support efforts including:

  • Pipeline programs that bring students from rural communities and small towns to campus over summer break to help them prepare academically and for college life
  • On-campus events for prospective students from rural areas and small towns, including flying students in from their hometowns
  • Expanded visits by college admissions staff to high schools in small towns and rural communities
  • Support for students in the college application process, including workshops and sessions designed to help students throughout their college search
  • Help navigating financial aid and scholarship opportunities, and more

All programming is free to students who register with STARS.

“Northwestern has long been committed to student-centered partnerships that leverage shared resources to advance college access,” said Christopher Watson, associate vice president for student outreach and dean of undergraduate enrollment. “The STARS Network promises an unprecedented collective effort with the power to change lives, and we’re proud to be part of it.”

Tweet this quote Our hometowns, our families’ finances and our parents’ educations often define us in many ways, but they must not determine our access to learning.”
President Michael Schill, a first-generation college student

In addition, STARS is also teaming up with Khan Academy and the non-profit tutoring platform Schoolhouse to offer a free, online math curriculum and peer tutoring for students in small towns and rural communities, leading to certification of mastery in calculus — an important credential for admission to more selective colleges and universities that is not available from all high schools.

Founding supporter Byron D. Trott, Chairman and Co-CEO of BDT & MSD Partners, was inspired by the ways in which college transformed his own journey, which began in small-town Union, Missouri and included undergraduate and MBA degrees at the University of Chicago. Trott-affiliated philanthropic efforts have provided substantial support to students from small towns and rural communities, including through launching rootEd Alliance, which has convened philanthropists, as well as funding from Missouri, Texas, Tennessee, and Idaho, to train and place dedicated college and career counselors in rural high schools.

With the launch of STARS, Trott-affiliated philanthropies have devoted more than $50 million to supporting students from small towns and rural communities, including the rootEd Alliance, which has teamed up with other philanthropies and the states of Missouri, Texas, Tennessee and Idaho to train and place dedicated college counselors in local high schools that did not previously offer that service to students.

“There is a massive talent pool in our small towns and rural communities that has so much to offer — to our colleges, to society and to future generations,” Trott said. “These small communities simply don’t have the resources to help show these students what is possible and help them get there. Collaborative partnerships like STARS and rootEd not only help to turn the tide — they have a multiplier effect that can catalyze far greater change than any single institution or agency could make on its own.”

STARS Network members will also build upon existing programs that help provide a support network for students from small towns and rural areas once they have enrolled — the kind of support many colleges already provide for students from different backgrounds.

Ultimately, STARS members say this ecosystem of initiatives can help bridge the growing rural-urban divide in America, by bringing students together to share the widest possible variety of experiences.

Increased enrollment of students from other parts of the country will also help institutions achieve diversity in more traditional metrics, such as first-generation and low-income students. An estimated one-third of students from rural and small-town America are people of color.

Research shows that college graduates from rural areas often return to their communities, so efforts to help rural students get the greatest benefit from higher education can create a virtuous cycle of support, success and giving back to the next generation. 

And while the launch of STARS comes after Slonaker’s enrollment at Northwestern, she participated in QuestBridge, which is a college match program that partners some of the nation’s best colleges with high-achieving low-income students.

“I certainly would have benefitted from these kinds of resources,” she said. “In the smaller rural communities there are fewer people who have come before you who have had the same experiences. There’s no network of support.”

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