Urban versus Rural Community Colleges: A National Study of Student Gender and Ethnicity

Approximately half of the U.S. population currently lives in suburban locales, one-fourth in big cities, and another fourth in small towns and rural areas. Hodgkinson (2003) indicates that the U.S. population is undergoing an increasing migration into rural areas. This relocation holds many challenging and ominous implications for urban and rural higher education as colleges and universities struggle to meet the divergent needs of shifting demographics. Public community colleges are especially impacted by these changes in student populations