By Nick Anderson (Washington Post). A sizable share of college admission directors say they have intensified efforts to recruit in rural areas and find more white students from low-income families following Donald Trump’s unexpected victory in the 2016 presidential election, according to a survey from the online news outlet Inside Higher Ed.
The 2016 election and President Trump’s statements and actions since taking office posed challenges for higher education in multiple ways. His campaign capitalized on heavy support from rural America and from white voters without college degrees — sectors of the population many colleges historically have struggled to reach. His efforts this year to temporarily bar travelers from several Muslim-majority countries, citing national security concerns, and his statements in favor of tighter immigration enforcement have fueled worries among foreign scholars and students about whether they will face barriers to research and studies in the United States.
The Inside Higher Ed survey, conducted with Gallup, yielded various findings that point to a Trump effect in admissions:
- Thirty-eight percent of those who responded said their schools — public and private — have stepped up recruitment in rural areas since the election. Thirty percent reported the same about recruiting students from poor white families. A smaller share — 8 percent — said their schools are seeking more politically conservative students.
- Admissions directors were more likely to endorse than reject the view that the election shows colleges, especially elite colleges, should do more to recruit in rural areas. Thirty-six percent agreed with that idea, while 22 percent disagreed.
- A large majority — 76 percent — agree that Trump’s statements and policies have made it harder to recruit international students. Nine percent disagreed. Read more
