“You Can’t Belong Anywhere Else”: Postsecondary Aspirations of Rural Students in the Postwar Era

Abstract

This article employs historical analysis of a unique collection of essays to examine the college aspirations of rural high school students. Although researchers attribute the low educational attainment of this population mainly to poverty and poor school quality, many scholars continue to believe that historically rooted cultural norms and kinship bonds also inhibit ambitions regarding higher education. However, statements written during the 1950s by students in isolated rural districts not only indicate a level of enthusiasm for higher education that matched the national average but also rarely note parental discouragement or conflicting cultural impulses. At the start of the greatest enrollment surge in American history, rural high school students reconciled their college ambitions with the desire to serve their families and communities—a tendency that suggests cultural barriers to college access ranked far below financial, informational, and academic impediments.