For Gen Zers in rural counties, lack of a college degree is no career obstacle. ‘My stress is picking an option, not finding an option’

Success·EducationFor Gen Zers in rural counties, lack of a college degree is no career obstacle. ‘My stress is picking an option, not finding an option’By Carolyn ThompsonBy The Associated PressBy Carolyn ThompsonBy The Associated Press Devon Wells, a junior at Perry Central High School, welds a metal calf er at Halo Farms, where he works, on March 12, in Perry, N.Y

Lauren Petracca—AP PhotoAs a student in western New York’s rural Wyoming County, Briar Townes honed an artistic streak that he hopes to make a living from one day

In high school, he clicked with a college-level drawing and painting class

But despite the college credits he earned, college isn’t part of his plan

Since graduating from high school in June, he has been overseeing an art camp at the county’s Arts Council

If that doesn’t turn into a permanent job, there is work at Creative Food Ingredients, known as the “cookie factory” for the way it makes the town smell baking cookies, or at local factories American Classic Outfitters, which designs and sews athletic uniforms. “My stress is picking an option, not finding an option,” he said

Even though rural students graduate from high school at higher rates than their peers in cities and suburbs, fewer of them go on to college

Many rural school districts, including the one in Perry that Townes attends, have begun offering college-level courses and working to remove academic and financial obstacles to higher education, with some success

But college doesn’t hold the same appeal for students in rural areas where they often would need to travel farther for school, parents have less college experience themselves, and some of the loudest political voices are skeptical of the need for higher education

College enrollment for rural students has remained largely flat in recent years, despite the district-level efforts and stepped-up recruitment by many universities. 55% of rural U.S. high school students who graduated in 2023 enrolled in college, according to National inghouse Re Center data.That’s compared to 64% of suburban graduates and 59% of urban graduates

College can make a huge difference in earning potential

A school takes cues from families’ hopes and goals A lack of a college degree is no obstacle to opportunity in places such as Wyoming County, where people to say there are more cows than people

The dairy farms, potato fields and maple sugar houses are a source of identity and jobs for the county just east of Buffalo. “College has never really been, I don’t know, a necessity or blem in my family,” said Townes, the middle of three children whose father has a tattoo shop in Perry

At Perry High School, Superintendent Daryl McLaughlin said the district takes cues from students Townes, their families and the community, supplementing college offerings with grams geared toward career and nical fields such as the building trades

He said he is as happy to vide reference checks for employers and the military as he is to write recommendations for college applications. “We’re letting our students know these institutions, whether it is a college or whether employers, they’re competing for you,” he said. “Our job is now setting them up for success so that they can take the greatest advantage of that competition, ultimately, to imve their quality of life.” Still, college enrollment in the district has exceeded the national average in recent years, going from 60% of the class of 2022’s 55 graduates to 67% of 2024’s and 56% of 2025’s graduates

The district points to a decision to direct federal pandemic relief money toward covering tuition for students in its Accelerated College Enrollment gram — a partnership with Genesee Community College

When the federal money ran out, the district paid to keep it going. “This is a gram that’s been in our community for quite some time, and it’s a gram our community supports,” McLaughlin said. 15% of rural U.S. high school students were enrolled in college classes in January 2025 through such dual enrollment arrangements, a slightly lower rate than urban and suburban students, an Education Department survey found

Rural access to dual enrollment is a growing area of focus as advocates seek to close gaps in access to higher education

The College in High School Alliance this year announced funding for seven states to develop policy to expand grams for rural students

Higher education’s image blem is acute in rural America Around the country, many students feel jaded by the high costs of college tuition

And Americans are increasingly skeptical the value of college, polls have shown, with Republicans, the dominant party in rural America, losing confidence in higher education at higher rates than Democrats. “Whenever you have this narrative that ‘college is bad, college is bad, these fessors are going to indoctrinate you,’ it’s hard,” said Andrew Koricich, executive director of the Alliance for Re on Regional Colleges at Appalachian State University in North Carolina. “You have to figure out, how do you crack through that information ecosphere and say, actually, people with a bachelor’s degree, on average, earn 65% more than people with a high school diploma only?” In much of rural America, 21% of people over the age of 25 have a bachelor’s degree, compared to 36% of adults in other areas, according to a government analysis of U.S

Paper mills and power plants vide opportunities for a middle class life in the county, where the cost of living is low

But Theobold tells students the goal of higher education “is to go off and learn more not only the world, but also yourself.” “You don’t want to be 17 years old, determining what you’re going to do for the rest of your life,” he said

Families choose the magnet school because of its focus on higher education, even though most of the district’s parents never went to a college

Many students visit college campuses through Camp Osprey, a University of North Florida gram that helps students experience college dorms and dining halls

In upstate New York, high school junior Devon Wells grew up on his family farm in Perry but doesn’t see his future there

He’s considering a career in welding, or as an electrical line worker in South Carolina, where he heard the pay might be double what he would make at

None of his plans require college, he said. “I grew up on a farm, so that’s all hands-on work

That’s really all I know and would want to do,” Devon said

Neither his nor Townes’ parents have pushed one way or the other, they said. “I remember them talking to me , `Hey, would you want to go to college?’ I remember telling them, ‘not really,’” Townes said

He would have listened if a college recruiter reached out, he said, but wouldn’t be willing to move very far

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