Keeping Sight of the Forest and the Treesocca17.com/data/documents/OCCA-Keeping-Sight-of... · • Agricultural interests can dominate policymaking, despite comprising a decreasing

Keeping Sight of the Forest and the Trees: Rethinking Diversity and College Opportunity for

Rural Populations in Oregon

Andrew Koricich, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Higher Education

Texas Tech University

June Convening Sponsored By:

Oregon Community College Association &

The Ford Family Foundation

June 25, 2015

Portland, Oregon

PRESENTATION OVERVIEW

The Current State of Rural America

Rural Diversity

• People

• Communities

Postsecondary Access & Choice

Challenges for Rural Residents

A Spotlight on Oregon

Opportunities for Improvement

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

The Current State of Rural America

THE CURRENT STATE OF RURAL AMERICA

As of 2010, approximately 59.5 million Americans live in rural

communities.

2010 2000 1990 1980

Rural

Population

59,492,267 59,061,367 61,656,38

6

59,494,813

% of U.S.

Population

19.3 21.0 24.7 26.3

Change in U.S. Rural Population, 1980–2010

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census.gov


Three-quarters of U.S. counties are classified as non-

metropolitan.


Contrary to popular belief, rural America is not overwhelmingly

white.

• American Indian reservations, border states, Deep South

• Immigration patterns

Rural residents experience higher poverty rates than those living

in cities and suburbs

• More than just an individual problem

• Relationship to local economic changes


Non-metropolitan counties have experienced greater population

loss over the last few decades

• Youth outmigration (“brain drain”)

• Scarcity of critical skills and knowledge

Some rural algebra:

• High Poverty + Decreasing Population = Shrinking Tax Base

• Shrinking Tax Base + High Need for Services = Program Cuts


On the bright side…

Exceptional cultivation of talented youth

Growing economic opportunities in emerging industries

• Sustainable agriculture

• Renewable energy

• Tourism & recreation

Increased connectivity though broadband expansion efforts

• Opportunities in education

• Opportunities in E-Commerce


Rural Diversity

RURAL DIVERSITY

Rural diversity can be thought of in two ways:

Rural places as home to diverse individuals and groups, each

with corresponding characteristics and challenges

Seeing “rural” as a heterogeneous category made up of

distinctly, and substantively, different communities, each with

characteristics that impact the lives of residents

RURAL DIVERSITY

Military

Enlistees

First-

Generation

Low-

Income

Racial

Minorities

Immigrants Adult

Learners

RURAL AMERICA

RURAL DIVERSITY

Minorities & Immigrants

Not unusual in rural places

• Result of Southern slavery

• Native American reservations

• Migrant agriculture laborers

• Refugees

– Hmong (1970s)

– Sudan, Bosnia, Croatia (1990s)

• Latin American immigrants

Poverty & First-Generation

Rural residents have long had

lower education levels

• Exacerbated by geographic

isolation

• Connection between education

level and local employment

opportunities

• Relationship between poverty

and education access/attainment

With fewer rural residents

holding degrees, rural youth

are more likely to be first-

generation college students

RURAL DIVERSITY

Student Veterans

Recent military conflicts and new G.I. Bill have dramatically

increased the number of combat veterans on college campuses.

• Cultural differences, experience, and age

• Physical and mental health concerns

• Requires a re-thinking of what types of student services should be added

These students often choose institutions near military bases,

especially community colleges, when using education benefits.

% of Military

Enlistees

% of Overall U.S.

Population (2010)

Rural 20-44 19.3

RURAL DIVERSITY

“Rural” as a Heterogeneous Category

In research, policy, and everyday life, rural communities are

treated as a monolithic group.

• Agricultural interests can dominate policymaking, despite comprising a

decreasing share of national and rural employment.

Accordingly, the vast complexities of rural life are overlooked

or ignored.

“America today has many rural Americas.” (Lichter & Brown,

2011, p. 568)

RURAL DIVERSITY

When we treat “rural” as a singular group, we

miss important variations in rural places:


Postsecondary Access & Choice

Challenges for Rural Residents

POSTSECONDARY ACCESS & CHOICE CHALLENGES

Students from non-metropolitan counties are only 80% as

likely to enroll in any postsecondary education within 2 years

of completing high school

Students from these communities are considerably more likely

to choose a two-year college over a four-year institution

• Best option vs. only option quandary

More likely to attend public institutions at the two-year and

four-year levels


Students from non-metro counties also less likely to choose

selective institutions

In these places, persistent child poverty (20+ years) has a

startling detrimental effect on postsecondary enrollment and

significantly alter choice patterns.

Local industry and employment opportunities influence

college access and choice

• Connections between education and employment are crucial


Distance from postsecondary institutions (predictably)

influences access and choice

• When more time is spent commuting, there is less time for studies,

work, and family

• This obstacle may effectively reduce or eliminate the options available

to students

• Without choice, do we truly have access?

Rural residents are more likely to live in a county with no

postsecondary institution compared to urban and suburban

residents.

• Opportunities in online education, but this is not for everyone and

comes with corresponding obstacles


A Spotlight on Oregon

A SPOTLIGHT ON OREGON

Rurality in Oregon

2010 Census Data

• New Urbanized Areas: Albany, Grants Pass, Walla Walla

• Rural population: 726,692 (18.97%)

• Rural land area: 98.8%

Unique definitions

• Urban Community: A specified area with at least 50,000 residents

• Urban Rural: At least 10 miles by road from an urban community

• Rural: At least 30 miles by road from an urban community

• Isolated Rural: Rural community at least 100 miles from a community

of 3,000 or more residents

• Frontier Rural: Rural community at least 75 miles from a community of

2,000 or more residents


Rural and Urban Oregon

Image Source: Crandall & Weber (2005)


Isolated Rural Oregon



Isolated Rural Oregon



What comes to mind when thinking of rural

Oregon?


Rural Diversity in Oregon

Geography

• Pacific coast, Cascade range, High desert, Willamette Valley

Demographics

• Rural Oregon may still be predominantly White, but there are important

racial, ethnic, and cultural variations in these places.

• Other social metrics:

Non-Metro Social Indicators (2004) # of Non-Metro Counties in OR

Substandard Housing 12

Retirement Destination 6

Non-Metro Recreation 6

Low Education, Low Employment,

Persistent Child Poverty

1 (each)

Persistent Poverty, Population Loss 0 (each)




Rural Diversity in Oregon

Industry

• Shift from resource dependence to mixed manufacturing and high tech,

but rural communities have been largely left out

• Top Commodities (> $300 million in 2013):

– Greenhouse/Nursery, Cattle, Hay, Milk, Grass seed, Wheat

Non-Metro Industry

Dependence Type (2004)

# of Non-Metro Counties

in OR

Farming 4

Manufacturing 4

Federal/State Gov. 3

Services 1

Non-Specialized 13


Postsecondary Education

In 2007, about 31% of urban residents held a bachelor’s degree,

compared to only 19.5% of those in rural counties

• Share for associate degrees was about the same for both groups

In a cohort of high school freshmen in 2005-2007 (Pierson &

Hanson, 2015):

• 55% of rural students in Oregon enrolled in college, compared to 63% of

urban students

• 78% of rural students persisted to the second year (83% for non-rural)

• No difference between groups regarding immediate enrollment

• More rural students first enrolled in a two-year, public institution in OR

• Rural Hispanic students were more likely than their non-rural

counterparts to enroll in college


Postsecondary Education

Mobility/proximity remains an issue as many rural Oregonians

live several hours from the nearest university

• This also ties closely to issues of income and first-generation status

Oregon State announced a $60 million forest science complex

aimed at improving rural economic prospects

A 2010 Oregon Employment Department report notes the need

for more research on rural Oregonians and higher education.


Opportunities for Improvement

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT

“Place Not Race”

Shift efforts to diversify campuses and increase opportunity to

see where a student comes from, as opposed to race alone.

As diverse places, rural communities are a rich source of

underrepresented and non-traditional college students.

• Design outreach and institutional aid efforts accordingly

Can aid a broad spectrum of populations in need

This re-thinking should permeate recruitment/outreach,

institutional aid provision, and academic research.


Administrators and Institutions

Understand the rural populations specific to your state/region

Review institutional aid programs

Help students see connections between their education and

local employment opportunities

Support services and programs

• How do current services meet the needs of the specific populations you

serve? How might current offerings need to change to serve the diverse

populations in rural communities?

• Retention is more cost-effective than attrition!


Policymakers

Understand who comprises

rural America

Understand the effects of

policy changes on vulnerable

populations

Expand Pell Grants and other

low-income grant aid

Develop creative ways to fund

rural students while connecting

education to employment

opportunities

Researchers

Conduct more research on

rural populations and

postsecondary education

• Establish partnerships!

Account for diversity in the

“rural” category

Study financial aid changes

and their impact on rural

populations and the various

sub-populations that reside in

these communities

Remember:

Postsecondary education is essential for

successful economic development!

Keeping Sight of the Forest and the Trees: Rethinking Diversity and College Opportunity for

Rural Populations in Oregon

Andrew Koricich, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Higher Education

Texas Tech University

[email protected]

June Convening Sponsored By:

Oregon Community College Association &

The Ford Family Foundation

June 25, 2015

Portland, Oregon

SELECTED REFERENCES

Adelman, C. (2002). The relationship between urbanicity and educational outcomes. In W. Tierney & L. S. Hagedorn (Eds.), Increasing access to

college: Extending possibilities for all students. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press

Brown, D. L., & Schafft, K. A. (2011). Rural people & communities in the 21st Century: Resilience & transformation. Malden, MA: Polity Press.

Byun, S., Meece, J. L., & Irvin, M. J. (2011). Rural-Nonrural Disparities in Postsecondary Educational Attainment Revisited. American

Educational Research Journal, 49(3), 412–437. doi:10.3102/0002831211416344

Carnevale, A. P., Smith, N., Strohl, J. (2010). Help wanted: Projections of jobs and education requirements through 2018. Retrieved from

Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce website: http://cew.georgetown.edu/jobs2018

Carr, P., & Kefalas, M. (2009). Hollowing out the middle: The rural brain drain and what it means for America. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

Cashin, S. (2014). Place not race: A new vision of opportunity in America. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

Chen, X. & Koricich, A. (In press). Reaching out to remote places: A discussion of technology and the future of distance education in rural

America. In E-Learn 2014 Proceedings: World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, & Higher Education.

Chesapeake, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education. Corbett, M. (2007). Learning to Leave: The Irony of Schooling in

a Coastal Community. Black Point, Nova Scotia: Fenwood Publishing.

Crandall, M. & Weber, B. (2005). Defining rural Oregon: An exploration, RSP 05-03. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Rural Studies

Program. Retrieved May 30, 2015 from https://secure.engr.oregonstate.edu/wiki/transportation/uploads/ODOT07-VMT/defining%20rural.pdf

Gibbs, R. (1998). College completion and return migration among rural youth. In R. Gibbs, P. Swaim, & R. Teixeira (Eds.), Rural education and

training in the new economy: The myth of the rural skills gap (1st ed., pp. 61–80). Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press.

Grey, M. A. (2013). Immigrants and refugees in Iowa: Past, present, and future. Retrieved from http://iowainternationalcenter.org/wp-

content/uploads/2013/02/mark-greys-powerpoint2.pdf

Koricich, A. (2012). Seeing “rural” as a differentiated space, American Journal of Education Forum. Available at

http://www.ajeforum.com/?p=316.

Koricich, A. (2014, April). Bad for the gander? The effects of local economic factors on college access and choice. Research presentation at the

Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. Philadelphia, PA.

Koricich, A. (2014, April). The effects of rurality on college access and choice. Research presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American

Educational Research Association. Philadelphia, PA.

https://secure.engr.oregonstate.edu/wiki/transportation/uploads/ODOT07-VMT/defining%20rural.pdf



http://iowainternationalcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/mark-greys-powerpoint2.pdf







SELECTED REFERENCES

Lichter, D. T., & Brown, D. L. (2011). Rural America in an Urban Society: Changing Spatial and Social Boundaries. Annual Review of Sociology,

37(1), 565–592. doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-081309-150208 Lutz, A. (2011). Who joins the military? A look at race, class, and immigration

status. Journal of Political and Military Sociology, 36(3), 167-188.

Mackun, P. & Wilson, S. (2011). Population distribution and change: 2000 to 2010. Retrieved from:

http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-01.pdf

Oregon Office of Rural Health (2009). Percent Native American by County, 2008. Retrieved June 4, 2015, from

http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/outreach/oregon-rural-health/data/publications/upload/Percent-Native-American-by-County-2008.pdf

Oregon Office of Rural Health (2012). ORH Rural/Urban Areas. Retrieved June 4, 2015, from http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/outreach/oregon-rural-

health/data/rural-definitions/upload/orh-rural-map.png

Oregon Office of Rural Health (2013). Percent in Poverty by County: ACS 2007-11 (OR: 14.8%). Retrieved June 4, 2015, from

http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/outreach/oregon-rural-health/data/publications/upload/Poverty-by-County-map.jpg

Oregon University System. (2011). Rural Oregon Higher Education Issues and Outreach. Retrieved June 10, 2015, from

http://www.ous.edu/files/dept/govrel/files/2011IBRuralEd.pdf

Oregon Secretary of State. (2015). Oregon’s Economy. Retrieved June 10, 2015, from http://bluebook.state.or.us/facts/economy/economy.htm

Pierson, A. & Hanson, H. (2015). Comparing postsecondary enrollment and persistence among rural and nonrural students in Oregon (REL

2015-76). Washington, DC: Institute for Education Sciences.

Ruman, C., Rivera, M., and Hernandez, I. (2011). Student veterans and community colleges. New Directions for Community Colleges, (155), 51-

58. doi: 10.1002/cc.457

Ryan, S. W., Carlstrom, A. H., Hughey, K. F. and Harris, B. S. (2011). From boots to books: Applying Schlossberg’s model to transitioning

American veterans. NACADA Journal, 31(4), 55-63 USDA-ERS. (Cartographer). (2013). Metro and nonmetro counties, 2013. Retrieved

from http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/1103491/metrononmetro.png

U.S. Census Bureau. (1995, October). Urban and rural population: 1900 to 1990. Retrieved from

https://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/files/urpop0090.txt

U.S. Census Bureau. (2013, July 22). 2010 Census urban and rural classification and urban area criteria. Retrieved from

https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/ua/urban-rural-2010.html



















http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/outreach/oregon-rural-health/data/rural-definitions/upload/orh-rural-map.png






















http://www.ous.edu/files/dept/govrel/files/2011IBRuralEd.pdf

http://bluebook.state.or.us/facts/economy/economy.htm

http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/1103491/metrononmetro.png

https://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/files/urpop0090.txt






Keeping Sight of the Forest and the Treesocca17.com/data/documents/OCCA-Keeping-Sight-of... · • Agricultural interests can dominate policymaking, despite comprising a decreasing

Documents