“What do you want to be when you grow up?” It’s a question that adults ask kids from the time they’re old enough to talk. Although it’s a seemingly innocuous question, it’s one that can make high school students squirm. Many students don’t feel they have enough information to make such a weighty decision, leading students to enter college without a well-defined plan (potentially costing them thousands in student loans) or postponing the decision altogether. Despite evidence from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics on the positive lifetime financial benefits associated with postsecondary education, postsecondary enrollment has declined significantly in recent years. Compounding the matter, research has demonstrated that students from rural school settings experience unique challenges in their postsecondary pursuits relative to their urban and suburban counterparts. Despite graduating high school at similar rates, rural high school graduates persistently enroll in college and earn bachelor’s degrees at lower rates than their non-rural peers. Rural school counselors, who often shoulder the responsibility of helping students navigate their college and career decisions, have been beset in recent years by increasing demand for responsive mental health services and other competing demands for their time. However, where challenges exist, there are also opportunities for change.
The rootEd Alliance is a private, philanthropic organization founded in 2018 to narrow the opportunity gap for rural students. The rootEd Alliance trains and places dedicated postsecondary advisors in rural high schools across America, with the goal of providing each student with the connections and support they need to define, plan, and achieve their educational and career goals. rootEd helps ensure that rural students graduate high school with a pathway to a career earning a family-sustaining wage – whether through higher education, work-based learning and credentials, or military service.
In 2021, the rootEd Alliance partnered with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to scale up their original pilot program. Today, rootEd Missouri is a network of over 130 advisors working with nearly 12,000 rural Missouri seniors each year to help them navigate their college and career options. Currently, 14 schools across North Central and Northwest Missouri participate in the program, including Trenton, Chillicothe, Savannah, and Maryville. Advisors spend their time meeting one-on-one with students and parents to discuss possible college and career pathways, hosting or attending college and career fairs with students, helping students complete college and job applications, or working with students on scholarships and financial aid paperwork. Participating schools receive grant funding to offset the cost of the position as well as training, resources, and support to help the advisor be successful.
Survey data from North Missouri schools in the 2023-2024 school year showed an increase of 55% in students’ reported level of confidence in their postsecondary pathway from the beginning to the end of the year, thanks to support they received from their rootEd advisors. And despite lower-than-normal completion rates nationwide last year, over 60% of seniors at rootEd schools in North Missouri completed the FAFSA. That’s 16% higher than the state completion rate. One rootEd senior said it best: “Without my advisor, I would still be concerned about my future. Having her has given me so many more opportunities than I thought I had.” Dedicated support from rootEd advisors is helping rural students graduate and pursue their college and career goals with confidence.
Photo: Kasey Bailey