Inside This Edition:

• Recruiting in Small-Town and Rural America
• Out of Class Learning Counts
• Tolerant Teens Offer Opportunities to Celebrate Diversity

When thinking about residents of small-town and rural America, it’s tempting to lump them together. But data from the recent Chronicle of Higher Education Survey conducted by GDA-Integrated Services shows distinct differences between the two groups.

American adults who live in rural areas are far less convinced (42% vs. 53%) than their small town neighbors of the importance of a college education for success in today’s society. Rural adults are also far less likely (53% vs. 67% for small-town residents) to rate their own college degree as very important to their current success.

While both groups believe that the most important role for a college is teaching undergraduates, residents of small towns are far more likely (60% vs. 46%) than rural residents to believe that offering a broad-based general education to undergraduate students is a very important role for a college to perform. Adults living in urban and suburban areas agreed with those from small towns about the importance of the liberal arts.

Small-town and rural adults were more likely (17% and 16%, respectively) to report that it was "very important" for their children to attend a college or university with a religious affiliation. In comparison, 14% of urban adults and 9% of suburban adults felt that such was very important. These data suggest that while a message of religious affiliation may play better in rural areas or small-towns, it’s far from a trump card when recruiting students.

When it came to the type of college or university in which adults living in small-towns would most like to see their children enroll, modest size private universities were the clear choice (26%, vs. 20% for smaller state universities; 19%, large state universities; and 9%, for large private research universities.) Rural adults preferred large public universities (24%), then modest size privates (19%); smaller state colleges (14%); and large private universities (8%).

However, when it came to reporting the type of college or university at which a child had most recently enrolled, large state college or universities were most popular with 40% of small-town residents and 30% of rural residents.

Choosing a college was more difficult for rural parents than it was for those living in urban or suburban areas or small-towns. Only 20% of rural adults reported having a "very easy" time of choosing a college compared to 36% for suburban; 27%, urban; and 27%, small-town adults. Overall, 70% of suburban adults and 69% of small-town residents reported having a very easy or easy time of choosing a college while only 48% of rural respondents could say the same.

GDAIS Observations and Recommendations
Rural America has been hit by two to three years of draught. Many of the manufacturing plants that moved into rural areas in the early 1990s to take advantage of inexpensive cost of living, good transportation, local financial incentives, and employees with an excellent work ethic have now closed and are very unlikely to reopen. Rural areas are, generally speaking, economically depressed. This may help explain why residents of rural areas are more skeptical about the value of a college degree than others. For them benefits that are tangible and immediate are extremely important.

Several points are worth making from this analysis:

• Students and especially parents from rural communities will be a tough sell for private colleges. This means colleges who recruit aggressively in rural areas will have to be more aggressive about demonstrating the value for the dollar of their institution.
• Liberal arts should be an easier sell to small-town rather than rural students, whose parents may be heavily career oriented.
• Although small-town and rural parents are more likely than urban or suburban parents to say it is very important for their child to attend a church-related college, the percentages of parents who said this are quite small. This means a college will have to spread their admission net widely to find students or demonstrate more clearly the benefits of a church-related college.
• Rural families, it appears, have greater difficulties choosing colleges and universities. This means your admissions staff will have to be more informative and empathetic with the rural students and families. For instance, parents of inquirers from rural areas might be sent a letter offering to answer questions they might have about picking and paying for college.
• Though rural families may have the hardest time selecting a college, for more than two out of three families, the choice is anything but easy. Smart colleges will devise strategies for managing prospective parents just as they manage prospective students. Tactics might include creation of a network of "peer" parents of current students who volunteer to answer questions from parents of prospective students in their communities, a service-oriented newsletter for prospective parents, and a ParentsNet website where they can find information about admissions and financial aid and access a monitored chat room devoted to parental concerns.

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The Purdue School of Engineering &Technology at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis (IUPUI) has developed a software system called Epsilen Portfolios that allows the user to develop a personal Web-based file, complete with resume, bios, papers, presentations, a learning matrix, movies and other multi-media pieces.

IUPUI professor Ali Jafari, creator of Epsilen Portfolios, said this new software could be useful in assessing the progress of students throughout their academic career and that it may help institutions foster continuity as students advance within their major.

"By viewing student e-portfolios, academic advisors may be able to make additional suggestions on coursework or other work experience that may be beneficial to students," said Jafari, who is also director of the IUPUI CyberLab. "This software program may also be useful to faculty, college staff, alumni and the private sector in sharing work experience with colleagues. Epsilen Portfolios was designed as a resource individuals can use as a student and as a professional."

GDAIS Observations and Recommendations
Electronic portfolios may be the ideal way to acknowledge that "learning" takes place in all corners of a college or university as well as off-campus. GDA Integrated Services is convinced, after reviewing its research over a 20-year period, that the future of the residential college, especially the smaller ones, will depend on whether they formally recognize that the residential experience and extracurricular activities share a platform for learning with the academic program. Whether or not they use portfolio software, small, private colleges need to establish their "ownership" of the concept educating the whole person.

Just as international study provides an educational experience well beyond the academic credits earned, the knowledge accumulated from living in a residence hall, gaining leadership skills through athletics and student-run organizations, dealing with diverse backgrounds on campus, learning altruism through volunteer services and so forth, needs to be recognized as part of each student's learning experience.

Not every experience deserves academic credit, of course. But the residential college that translates out-of-classroom experiences into perspectives and skills valued by students, parents and employers alike will find it much easier to recruit prospective students. And the higher price of a private college will be much more easily explained.

Parents and prospective employers, long sold on the value of internships, understand the importance experiential education. Epsilen Portfolios may be an efficient way to collect data about students out-of-class experiences and to relate them to the goals of their college education.

Earlier this year, the Gallup Youth Survey asked 13- to 17-year-olds the following question: "Many young people have roommates when they are in college or in their first jobs after high school. For the following types of people, would you like that person as a roommate, not like that person as a roommate, or would it make no difference?"

For the most part, race and ethnicity don't much matter when it comes to roommates. When asked if they would like a white roommate, 30% of teens said they would, 2% said they wouldn't, and 68% said it would make no difference to them. Twenty percent said they would like a black roommate, 7% said they wouldn't, and 73% said it would make no difference. Sixteen percent said they would like a Hispanic roommate, 10% said they wouldn't, and 73% said it wouldn't make a difference.

Breaking the results down by race of respondent provides additional insight. The majority of whites and nonwhites alike say it wouldn't make a difference to them if they had a roommate of another racial or ethnic group. Very few say they would dislike a roommate of another racial or ethnic group. For example, 8% of whites said they would not like a black roommate, and 12% would not like a Hispanic roommate. Five percent of nonwhites would not like a white roommate. For the most part, teens' tolerance levels hold up well under the racial and ethnic crosscheck on this question.

When it comes to religion, the responses show more variance, though a majority said it would not make a difference if the roommate came from any of several religious persuasions. Teens would be least comfortable with a roommate who was an atheist (37%), followed by a Muslim (29%), member of the religious right (27%), Jewish (13%), or Christian (8%).

The only type of roommate a majority of American teens would not like to be paired with is a homosexual. Five percent would like a homosexual roommate, 54% wouldn't, and 39% say it wouldn't make a difference. It is unclear if the results are due to the nature of the situation being assessed (i.e., teens may feel uncomfortable living in close quarters with someone they think might be attracted to them) than to tolerance per se. But for whatever reasons, teens would be least comfortable sharing an apartment or dorm room with a homosexual. (Gallup Briefing, May 6, 2003 by Jennifer Robison, Contributing Editor)

GDAIS Observations and Recommendations
This study confirms that colleges should not be evasive or apologetic about their goal of creating campus environments where students of all races, cultures and backgrounds can live with and learn from each other. In fact, the recent Supreme Court opinion on affirmative action described this as a desirable benefit of higher education.

Smaller institutions have an advantage over larger ones. At small schools, it's much more difficult for students from different races and religious backgrounds to isolate themselves in selected residence halls, Greek houses, etc.

But the real question is this: Is your institution celebrating cultural differences or just promoting tolerance? To prepare students for the multi-cultural world they'll face upon graduation, colleges and universities need to develop programs that allow students from all races, religious, and national backgrounds to "share" something about their culture and experience the cultures of others.

International dinners at some colleges are one way to celebrate, but colleges should consider more options. For example, students from different heritages should be able to share their cultural difference during convocations or regularly scheduled "Celebrations of Ourselves and Others." A Jewish student and a Muslim might partner in providing a joint program of the differences and similarities between Passover and Ramadan. A savvy inner city student and a student from a rural area might compare notes on misconceptions and fears that each has about where the other lives.

The more an institution truly celebrates cultural, racial, and religious differences, the better able it will be to attract students, faculty and administrators from diverse backgrounds and to make real progress toward achieving diversity.

GDA Integrated Services is a market research, consulting and services firm that specializes in customized, integrated marketing solutions that help colleges and universities compete successfully for students, funding, and visibility in the twenty-first century.