Creating an Inclusive Experience for Rural First-gen Students

Defining rural student is difficult given the varied and, at times, contradictory federal and state classifications for rurality. For example, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) uses an urban-centric locale categorization for schools that includes town and rural, which are defined in relation to urbanized areas (NCES, 2006). Both town and rural have three subcategories – fringe, distant, and remote – which vary depending on the distance from an urban cluster or urbanized area. To be as inclusive as possible, this resource guide will use rural to describe students who come from either the Town or Rural NCES locales.

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