This is the second part of a story by Jason Gonzales that appeared on Chalkbeat Colorado on May 17, 2022.
The attitude that the Colorado town of Fowler has toward college is hard to replicate, said Cecilia Orphan, a University of Denver expert on rural colleges.
But it’s on both colleges and school districts to ensure not just students but entire communities know how college can benefit their lives in rural settings, she said. Colleges that don’t do a good job graduating students might earn a bad reputation within a community or turn families off to college.
Schools that collaborate with rural communities help create more successful outcomes, she said.
“These communities know how to use resources in ways that make sense for their local economy that can improve the college-going culture, and create a more educated community,” she said.
Rocky Ford School District Superintendent Kermit Snyder said his community has mixed feelings about college. Some parents worry about their kids leaving the community, which sits about 20 miles east of Fowler, he said. It’s a common concern in rural areas, where college may be seen as contributing to declining population, rather than bolstering community sustainability.
For some families, Snyder said, “it’s just not a priority.”
He said he’d like to see more students explore college options, including career education and two-year opportunities. In the last several years, the district added a part-time employee to focus on connecting students to colleges and scholarships. That’s helped more students see college as an option, but most years college-going among his students has remained just about the same as the state average of 50.5%.
The district could use more help from colleges and universities, which haven’t consistently recruited students, Snyder said. Only recently did schools like CSU Fort Collins and the University of Colorado Denver start increasing their footprint in the surrounding areas. When students get to campus, Snyder wishes more schools understood their rural backgrounds and made them feel welcome.
“They don’t get a personal touch from a college saying we want you to come here,” Snyder said. “And I think in many ways, when they do head to that four-year institution, they don’t get that personal touch.”
The distance from colleges can create barriers for rural students, so schools have created satellite campuses in rural areas to address those challenges.
Colorado’s community college system has historically served the majority of the state’s eastern plains, but proximity to a college or university can be scattered. That can present huge hurdles for rural students when most students overall go to college within 50 miles of home, according to Ardoin.
Schools over the years have created satellite campuses to try to address those needs. Additionally, lawmakers have increasingly allowed the state’s community colleges to offer students four-year degree programs such as nursing to help fill gaps in training.
Joe Garcia, Colorado Community College System chancellor, said a college education can help towns sustain and grow their economies. The state’s changing economy also impacts rural Colorado, he said. More jobs require a college degree, especially a four-year degree.
“You cannot sustain those communities with only agricultural workers,” said Garcia, who grew up in rural New Mexico. “You need people who understand tech, who understand programming, who understand internet security, who can start up businesses. They need to be able to rely on their ability to access the internet and not just their ability to access a tractor.”
But leaders at Otero College, about 30 minutes from Fowler, said it can be difficult for the college to sustain programs. With few job opportunities, the school has to be mindful that it shouldn’t train too many workers for a given industry.
That’s why the state community college system is creating a network called the Rural College Consortium that will ensure every community college can access each others’ programs. The network is meant to address the sustainability of programs that have a broader appeal across the state.
For example, the consortium will allow students in Otero County the ability to attend classes remotely that are only offered at Colorado Northwestern Community College in Rangely. Schools also will share other resources, such as tutoring and mental health resources.
In recent years, four-year universities have also tried to do more to attract rural students or bring their programs closer to them.
CSU Fort Collins and University of Colorado Boulder have created regional partnerships so students in remote parts of the state can attend some of their degree programs.
Blake Naughton, CSU vice president for extension and engagement, said leaders at the university, founded to serve as the state’s agricultural school, have tried to refocus its efforts so the school’s teachings are relevant to a new generation of rural communities. That can look different in different parts of the state, where the economy might turn on agriculture or recreation and tourism or oil and gas development. The university has also invested in additional satellite campuses, such as in Rocky Ford, that help provide students connections to degrees, but also non-credit education courses for adults. The school also opened a campus in Orchard Mesa on the western slope.
Also on the Western Slope, Colorado Mesa University has gone door-to-door to recruit students. Colorado Mountain College, which serves mountain communities, has added programs such as avalanche science to ensure it’s meeting the needs of the communities it serves.
Leaders at CSU Pueblo, about 40 minutes west of Fowler, said they’ve beefed up recruitment by sending more admissions counselors to rural communities. The school also plans in the fall to make college free for families making less than $50,000 a year.
Chrissy Holliday, CSU Pueblo vice president of enrollment management, said the school has always tried to bring in rural students. The hope is that increased support for the surrounding communities will help create a better life in southeastern Colorado.
A young woman, wearing a grey Otero College shirt, throws hay for cattle on her family farm.
Colleges like CSU Pueblo are looking to bolster admission to their school by sending counselors to rural communities. Students like Shaelea Pruett, who will be a pre-veterinary student there in the fall, are taking advantage.
“They deserve this access to education,” she said.
Shaelea Pruett is seizing on that access, heading to Pueblo in the fall for a pre-veterinary medicine track that could take her to Fort Collins or beyond — and also pave a way back home to Fowler, just as her father wanted for both his daughters.
“He just wants us to be set,” Shaelea Pruett said. “He wants us to have those better opportunities.”
Jason Gonzales is a reporter covering higher education and the Colorado legislature. Chalkbeat Colorado partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Contact Jason at jgonzales@chalkbeat.org.