Here or There? An Examination of Community College CTE and Student Mobility Across Rural Locales

Community college career and technical education (CTE) represents one potential way in which students can receive important postsecondary education and training. Yet, existing research suggests rural community college students experience stratified access to CTE. Using a joint human capital theory and geography of opportunity theoretical framework, the current study examined the degree to which students residing in rural locales pursued CTE areas of study that were different from students in non-rural locales and whether patterns in community college CTE participation were associated with student movement or “mobility” across and within rural locales.