University of Arizona works to attract small-town students

The Small Town and Rural Students (STARS) College Network works to enhance opportunities for small-town students to get admission to the universities which are part of this network. The network has around 32 top colleges and universities dedicated to increasing the accessibility and affordability of higher education for these students.

Study in US: The University of Arizona is one of the newest members of the Small Town and Rural Students (STARS) College Network which works to facilitate better educational opportunities for students in rural and small-town areas. The colleges and universities in its network help students to visit the campus and get ready to take admission to these renowned colleges which otherwise is out of reach for these students.

Trott Family Philanthropies, the foundation of Byron and Tina Trott had gifted $20 million for the establishment of STARS last year. By joining the STARS Network, the university joins the likes of - the University of Southern California, the University of Notre Dame, the University of California Berkeley, Duke University, Stanford, University, Dartmouth University, and others as new members this year.

The network is headquartered at the University of Chicago and the founding members include - Vanderbilt University, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Southern California, University of Wisconsin, University of Iowa, University of Maryland, The Ohio State University, University of Chicago, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, Colby College, Columbia University, Case Western Reserve University, Brown University, California Institute of Technology, and Yale University.

Chief enrollment officer journey is a success story

Kasey Urquídez came from a rural place and studied in Arizona. She has now is the U of A's chief enrollment officer, vice president for enrollment management and dean of undergraduate admissions. When earlier she arrived at the campus to attend the new start summer program in 1990, she was intimidated by the university campus.

"It was one of the scariest experiences of my life," said Urquídez.

"Coming from a very small place, you're usually the big fish in a small pond, and coming here, you're this little itty-bitty fish in this enormous ocean and it feels so daunting like everything's going to be tougher than what you're used to," she added.

"We want to ensure that our students from rural areas get that true feeling of what campus life can be like and they feel like a star when they're here – that they know they can take this and run with it," she further added.

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