Chapter 12: Social Capital in the Rural United States and its Impact on Educational Attainment

The 2016 United States (U.S.) presidential election, while highly contentious, created a dialogue around a topic not often discussed in the U.S.—rural America. News stories and reports cited a rural public carrying Donald J. Trump all the way to the White House (Morin, 2016; Zitner & Overberg, 2016) and a country divided along a rural-urban continuum (Badger, Bui, & Pearce, 2016; Gamio, 2016). This election and its resulting coverage ignited meaningful and much needed conversations about the current state of rural America. However, the election failed to highlight the nuanced details and historical evolution of marginalized citizens within rural regions. More specifically, the election failed to cast an illuminating light on the very complex, multifaceted, and persistent marginalization which occurs in the dual realms of rural secondary and postsecondary education.