Going Away to College and Wider Urban Job Opportunities Take Highly Educated Youth Away From Rural Areas

摘要

Rural high school graduates are less likely to graduate from college than are urban graduates, mostly because they are less likely to attend college in the first place. Less access to colleges and fewer well-educated adults in the local population account for much of the rural-urban difference. Half of all rural college attendees leave home and do not return by age 25. Those that do return are drawn largely by home ties and intervening life choices rather than by local job opportunities.