Not to Be Overlooked

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For more than a decade, the cost of college tuition in the U.S. has been steadily rising as enrollment continues to drop. Higher ed’s price tag, now averaging $33,000 per year after financial aid for private universities and $19,000 for public ones, is one factor driving away prospective students reticent to bet their degree could one day pay itself off. According to new research taking into account both the earnings and debts of graduates, the wealth gap between college degree-earners and high school graduates is in fact closing. That message is not lost on prospective students of lower income or minority backgrounds for whom the stakes are even higher. 

Among this group of students at greater risk of not realizing the gains of a college degree are those from rural communities. They are often first in their families to go to college and less exposed to the opportunities that surround students in urban economic centers. For university leaders hoping to regain the public's trust in higher education, one possible avenue to explore is an increase in experiential learning opportunities. By facilitating outside-the-classroom professional experiences for students before they graduate, experiential learning may help raise the value of a college degree, in practice and perception.

“Historically, internships and other experiential learning opportunities have had greater participation among more privileged students with larger networks,” said John Volin, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost at the University of Maine, who is spearheading an effort to expand student internship opportunities through the newly created Rural Careers Pathway Center.  “Given the value of these programs, particularly in terms of career readiness and attainment, it's more important than ever to make a greater effort to expose less connected students with these opportunities earlier and more frequently.”

Appearing on more and more college campuses nationwide, experiential learning is a hands-on approach to education designed to allow students to “learn by doing.” It promotes projects, spanning research, internships, travel, and performances, that bring classroom material to life.  

But the practice doesn’t just offer a new, engaging way to learn. It’s many benefits include creating life-long wellbeing, helping with retention, and providing pathways to obtainable careers. 

At the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK), students are required to take one designated experiential learning class before graduating, thanks to a mandate by the Higher Learning Commission which is instituting a project to improve campus outcomes. “Experiential learning has been shown to have so many benefits for students,” said Beth Hinga, UNK Assistant to the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, who spearheaded the experiential learning course requirement launched in fall 2020. “It keeps them enrolled, so retention rates are higher. Satisfaction rates with their education are higher.”

At the rural and smallest campus in the University of Nebraska system, this potential boost for career development and attainment is especially meaningful. Four in ten UNK students are the first to attend college in their families, who tend to come from farming backgrounds. Without many other professional connections but with what Hinga called “a “phenomenal work ethic,” these students often thrive doing independent work and are able to foster positive service-learning or internship experiences that lead to employment down the road.

As a result, career-oriented experiential opportunities may help reassure families concerned about their children’s job prospects after college. “What I'm hearing from students is that [experiential learning] is a really valuable opportunity for them to show their parents that there are jobs out there that let them do these kinds of things that they want to do,” Hinga said. “The parents get excited because, ‘Gosh, my students do an internship and it's paid,’ and so they're able to help pay for their own school and those kinds of things.”

In the rural setting, experiential learning may also be mutually reinforcing for students and the local community. “So many businesses have been great about welcoming students in to do those internships and I think a lot of these students are making a very positive impact on them,” Hinga said. Impressed by how much the young students can offer, employers have continued bringing in more. “Those are the students that they want to hire.”

Moving forward, Hinga said she hopes the university can begin introducing younger students, in their first and second years, to experiential learning. “Students have told us that if they could get those experiences earlier in their college career, it would help them to make sure they know what the proposed career they're thinking about is all about and make sure it’s really what they want,” she said. 

The University of Maine at Farmington (UMF), another small, rural campus within a larger public university system, has embraced experiential learning as an engagement and retention strategy for some time. In October 2020, a $240 million gift to the UMaine System from the Harold Alfond Foundation spurred a $20 million student success and retention initiative called UMS TRANSFORMS, which centers on experiential learning opportunities, starting with “Research Learning Experiences” (RLEs) and moving onto “Pathways to Careers.” RLEs allow student to pursue research as early as their first semester, while Pathways creates professional preparation and work opportunities.

As early as their first semester, UMF students can engage in professional development through not only traditional work or internship experiences but wider career exploration. In a first-year course focused on sustainability, for example, students visited Maine Hudson Trails and Sugarloaf Mountain to speak with the respective director and sustainability coordinator about each of their job trajectories. In another course called “Popular Horror Narratives,” a unit on horror video games included a visit from one indie video game designer, who spoke about her experience developing a break-out game.

At a school where nearly half the student body comes from first-generation backgrounds, this chance to consider and connect with potential career routes can be transformational. “I think it’s so great for the students to hear from people who aren't coming from a privileged background, given a lot of our students are coming from rural Maine,” Steve Grandchamp, who taught the course on horror narratives, said. “They can hear, ‘Okay, well, how could you get into this industry?’ Or, ‘how can you kind of forge your own path in all of these different creative ways?’” 

As those who do this work in places like Farmington, Maine and Kearney, Nebraska attest, engaging rural students in real world experiences that can lead to post-college opportunities may also serve to address another challenge for higher ed: letting these students know, “We value you.”