Auburn University President Chris Roberts announced at the Sept. 6 Board of Trustees meeting that Auburn University has joined the Small Town and Rural Students College Network in July 2024. The STARS College Network is a system of 32 top universities that partner with high schools and colleges to help students overcome the hurdles of rural life and limited resources.

According to their website, STARS and “32 of the nation’s preeminent institutions” will help local rural communities succeed in college and beyond because of their commitment to rural students. STARS plans to expand through partnerships with public schools, historically black universities and Ivy Leagues. STARS claims to have “directly engaged with more than 700,000 students” through these efforts.

Auburn University will return to its land-grant mission through the STARS partnership. Auburn University’s enrollment statistics show that rural counties had a low enrollment rate in Fall 2023 compared to urban counties in Auburn.

Preston Spark, director of communications and marketing, wrote in the BOT materials that Auburn’s STARS will focus on counties with historically low enrollments to “prioritize a three-pronged strategy of deep interaction, tailored communications and valuable engagement opportunities.”

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, rural students graduate from high school at higher rates than the national average, but the National Institutes of Health says they are less likely to enroll in college than urban students. According to these sources, rural students are more likely to drop out than their urban counterparts.

Some rural students may experience difficulties with transportation, cost of attendance, housing, food, recruitment, or college readiness, making the path to higher education difficult. Auburn University has partnered with STARS to create change by giving rural students greater access to Auburn’s campus, applications and financial aid.

STARS provides online and in-person resources to rural students.

When it comes to online resources, STARS offers rural students guided educational programs such as Khan Academy and virtual webinars on the college search and application processes.

When it comes to in-person resources, STARS hosts in-person programs at partner institutions such as Auburn University that rural high school students can attend to learn more about the university. STARS also offers professors and faculty members the opportunity to visit rural communities.

STARS also works with other organizations that focus on rural students, such as: B. rootED Alliance and the non-profit organization The Rural Debate Initiative to advise rural high school students and train them in free debate education.

These opportunities may be even more important in local communities in Alabama.

According to Alabama Public Health, 55 of 67 counties in Alabama are considered rural and nearly half of Alabama’s citizens live in rural areas. According to the United States Census Bureau, only 28.9% of Alabam residents have a bachelor’s degree or higher, which is low compared to the national average of 36.2%.

Auburn University’s addition to the STARS program is consistent with the university’s other initiative to encourage underrepresented areas of Alabama to enroll at Auburn University. Tiger Takeoff takes high school students to an educational recruiting camp on the Auburn campus, where the high school students learn about the university’s leadership activities, academic curriculum and campus resources.

Seniors accepted into the camp can come from anywhere in Alabama, but the focus is on students from underrepresented geographic communities in the state. Most counties in southern Alabama are considered rural, but only 2,775 of Auburn’s 18,200 total students enrolled in fall 2024 come from rural counties.

Along with the other universities in the program, Auburn University is joining the fight for rural student representation in the classroom. STARS includes in-state rival the University of Alabama and other prestigious higher education institutions such as Duke University, Yale University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Those interested in learning more about Auburn University’s involvement in the STARS program can click here.