Defining rural: The impact of rural definitions on college student success outcomes

Rural students have unique characteristics that necessitate further exploration when analyzing assessment and student success data. From assessment, programming, and policy standpoints, intentionality in selection of a definition of rural is critical to prevent making inappropriate or inaccurate decisions. In this study, we sought to compare three definitions of rurality to better help understand this issue and to select a definition that we believe is most appropriate for use at a large research institution in a largely rural state.