How one rural Colorado high school is beating the odds to get more students into higher education

Jason Gonzales reports for Chalkbeat Colorado/Colorado Sun from Fowler, Colorado, population 1,253, in the state's eastern plains. Acknowledging the pattern of low college-going rates among rural students, Gonzales explains how Fowler is beating the odds.  He features two sisters, Ryanna and Shaelea Pruett, who've grown up raising cattle.  Here are some excerpts:  

The Fowler High School graduates know the ideal build for a bull and how to bottle-raise a calf. The sisters could try to make a living on their family ranch tucked between Manzanola and Fowler on Colorado’s southeastern plains.

Instead, their father Dane Pruett Jr. stressed college from an early age. He worked hard labor jobs at a cannery, steel mill, and farms throughout his life, but wanted his daughters to find work that would provide them flexibility and financial stability and wouldn’t tax their bodies.

“He wants a more comfortable life for us,” said Shaelea Pruett, 20, who graduated from Otero College and will attend Colorado State University Pueblo in the fall.

Shaelea Pruett wants to be a large-animal veterinarian, a high-growth field as an older generation retires. Her younger sister, Ryanna Pruett, 18, is studying at Otero College and plans to be an agricultural sciences teacher, preparing the next generation of farmers and ranchers.

Fewer than half of rural Colorado’s high school graduates go to college, a rate that’s about five percentage points below the state average.

The reasons are complex. College can feel far away, geographically and culturally. Colleges sometimes haven’t done enough to make degrees feel relevant to the interests and experiences of rural Coloradans. The cost can deter students unsure if college will improve their earnings. College recruiters don’t often stop at rural high schools.
Fowler fosters a college culture

Tiny Fowler, with its lone high school of about 110 students, shows how rural communities can use a partnership among educators, parents, and the broader community to foster the idea that college degrees will contribute to success — whether graduates return to Fowler or move to a bigger city.

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Agriculture dominates in Fowler, a community of about 1,150 residents, with farms and ranches dotting the valley on either side of the Arkansas River. Just up the road, the Crowley County Correctional Facility provides some jobs. In town, residents can work at the bank or the market. Those jobs don’t necessarily require employees to have degrees.

Yet, college has been a way of life in Fowler for generations. Residents aren’t sure when college became a priority, although some say it’s likely due to early settlers in the late 1800s who sent their children to college to become teachers or business owners.

What’s clear is the college-going culture has persisted. In 1916, Mathias Hermes created a scholarship trust to help Fowler students cover living expenses while at college. More than a century later it still provides about $100 a month to two scholarship recipients.