by Katherine Long, Seattle Times
According to an analysis by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Washington is one of 11 states where 10.1 to 20 percent of the population lives in an “education desert,” where it’s at least a 60-minute drive to get to a college campus. The distance from college is key, the Chronicle notes, because most students stay close to home to earn a degree. In 2016, almost 40 percent of first-time, full-time freshmen said their colleges were less than 50 miles from their homes, according a national study of college freshmen. In Washington, rural superintendents are working to try to get more kids to be better prepared for college or some type of degree after high school, said John Glenewinkel, the superintendent of both the Curlew and Republic school districts in Ferry County, one of the state’s northeastern counties.
Share on Facebook