Rural Students Transition into Higher Education in Meghalaya: Challenges and Coping Strategies

The transition from school to college is a change every student has to make in their pursuit of higher education. The transition phase is a difficult time for many students, especially to the rural students, many of whom are from a disadvantaged background. However, little literature exists in our state and the country on the transition of rural students into higher education, especially on the challenges they face and the coping strategies they have adopted. This qualitative exploratory study, therefore, aims to explore the challenges rural students in Meghalaya faced when making the transition into higher education, along with the strategies they adopted to cope with the challenges. The participants of this study consist of 68 rural students selected by the use of purposive sampling technique and the data was collected by the use of a semi-structured interview schedule. The thematic analysis method was used to analyse the interview transcripts. The study revealed rural students faced two main challenges, which are academic challenges and socio-emotional challenges, and they had adopted task-oriented coping and emotion-oriented coping strategies in coping with these challenges. The study concludes by suggesting that rural students need additional support when making the transition into higher education