Barriers Of Access To Higher Education For Rural Utah Students

This analysis aims to bridge the gap between Utah's rural high school students and barriers they encounter when accessing information about higher education. The literature indicates these barriers may include: low college-going culture, geographic location, stagnant economies, financial issues, staff shortages, inadequate college preparation, and limited student opportunities. These challenges suggest that rural students are at a disadvantage over non-rural students, hindering the likeliness of rural Utah students entering college (Harbeke et al., 2012). Chapter 1 will review the definitions of rural and urban, examine the context of rural Utah, provide a literature review, delineate the limitations of current findings, and review the barriers through a general and Utah specific lens. Chapter 2 will provide a hypothetical proposal for Utah Valley University to implement a post-high school education program to place collegiate advisors in rural high schools. Chapter 3 will reflect on the process of this final project.