COLLEGE PARK, Md - The STARS College Network, a coalition formed last summer by the University of Maryland (UMD) and 15 other prominent colleges and universities, will double in size following a year of landmark growth in creating opportunity for students from America’s small towns and rural communities.
STARS is dedicated to ensuring that students from rural and small-town America have the information and support they need to enroll and graduate from the college or university of their choice. In its inaugural year, more than a quarter-million students across the country joined the STARS College Network and took part in STARS activities. At UMD, these efforts included hosting hundreds of prospective students from across Maryland (including the Eastern, Western and Southern shores) and creating admissions administrative support focused on rural outreach and recruitment.
STARS will welcome 16 new members this year, including flagship state schools, historically Black colleges, Ivy League universities, and other selective institutions, spreading STARS’ reach to more regions across the nation. Each STARS member combines its own resources with STARS philanthropy to support pipeline programs and recruiting efforts aimed at students from small-town and rural America, as well as offering financial aid and on-campus programs to support students who enroll.
"We’re thrilled that our University of Maryland recruitment and yield efforts through the STARS College Network have been met with such success! Through these efforts, we have had an impressive response from students, families, and school counselors,” said Shannon R. Gundy, assistant vice president for enrollment management. “ We've been able to interact with hundreds of prospective students (both on our campus and in their communities), host school counselors both at the National Association of College Admission Counseling Conference and at meetings in their communities, and introduce STARS to legislators who represent some of our STARS counties. Each of these efforts helps to underscore our commitment to inclusive excellence and to ensure that the University of Maryland enrolls diverse populations of students from every corner of our state. We look forward to further enhancing pathways for students to pursue higher education at their flagship institution.”
Trott Family Philanthropies, the foundation of Byron and Tina Trott which catalyzed the creation of STARS with a $20 million gift in 2023, has donated another $50 million to expand the Network. That gift makes possible an investment of more than $150 million over 10 years in programs that prepare, recruit and support rural students. Once financial aid provided directly by the member institutions is factored in, along with additional support from philanthropies, non-profits and governmental agencies, an estimated $7.4 billion will be spent in support of STARS’ mission over the next decade.
This extraordinary growth follows a year in which STARS outreach connected with 1.6 million people, including students, families, educators, administrators, foundations, legislators, companies and other organizations. STARS institutions directly engaged with more than 700,000 students.
“STARS’ first year demonstrated that there is an appetite and imperative for our nation’s leading universities and colleges to better serve the massive talent pool in our small towns and rural regions,” said Byron D. Trott, chairman and co-CEO of BDT & MSD Partners. “STARS and its affiliated programs are opening doors in higher education for high-achieving rural students they might not have found otherwise; and the students, campuses and our economy will all be the better for it.”
In its first year, STARS:
Visited 1,100 rural high schools in 49 states to bring information about a wider variety of institutions directly to students and educators
Gave prospective students and educators more opportunities to experience STARS campuses first-hand through free trips to visit colleges and summer programs that help prepare students academically and socially for college
Provided monthly virtual panels with college admissions staff from Network schools, with topics designed to meet students wherever they are in their college search process
Addressed math preparation gaps through a new partnership with Khan Academy and Schoolhouse.world that provides students with free courses and tutoring
Partnered with local and national businesses to provide internships and job opportunities for the next generation of rural America
Inspired additional philanthropic giving across the country and new partnerships with leading college access organizations including the College Board, Davis New Mexico Scholars, Ayers Foundation and Palouse Pathways
Sparked national media coverage, academic research, convenings and policy conversations about how to enhance college access for rural and small-town students
Advocated for federal, state and local legislation that would support rural and small-town communities
Students from rural America often face unique obstacles to attending college. While students in small towns and rural communities graduate high school at roughly the same rate as students in metro areas, they are only half as likely to graduate from a selective college or university.
STARS simultaneously addresses a variety of obstacles that contribute to this disparity. Because of distance and cost, college admissions offices may bypass small towns and rural communities. Students in those areas are less likely to encounter college-related ads or attend events on campuses.
College counselors in rural high schools are often overburdened, if the school even has a counselor. The average national caseload for rural counselors is 310 students, with a high of 574 in rural Michigan. This means that students may have less access to educators and college access professionals who have broad experience and familiarity with the full spectrum of college opportunities.
Importantly, these students may not think they can afford college. Many do not have the networks and resources to help them understand the financial aid and other support available to them. Further, many rural students are ill prepared to embark on the college admissions process, including with respect to standardized testing critical to the admissions process.
By combining resources and committing to a plan to overcome those challenges, STARS member institutions help a wide variety of students at every step of their journey, whether they ultimately attend a STARS institution or not.
The new STARS member institutions are Amherst College, Auburn University, Dartmouth, Duke University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Southern Methodist University, Spelman College, Stanford University, University of Alabama, University of Arizona, University of Arkansas, University of California Berkeley, University of Denver, University of Notre Dame, University of South Carolina and The University of Texas at Austin.
STARS founding members are Brown University, California Institute of Technology, Case Western Reserve University, Colby College, Columbia University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, The Ohio State University, University of Chicago, University of Iowa, University of Maryland, University of Southern California, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Vanderbilt University, Washington University in St. Louis and Yale University. STARS is led by the University of Chicago and Vanderbilt, and headquartered at the University of Chicago.
By highlighting the benefits of this work, the STARS College Network hopes to motivate other institutions, alumni, and philanthropists to increase their own efforts on behalf of rural students. 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.