Many rural school districts have begun offering college-level courses and working to remove academic and financial obstacles to higher education, with some success. But college doesn't hold the same appeal for students in rural areas, where they often would need to travel farther for school, parents have less college experience themselves, and some of the loudest political voices are skeptical of the need for higher education.

College enrollment for rural students has remained largely flat in recent years, despite the district-level efforts and stepped-up recruitment by many universities. About 55 percent of rural U.S. high school students who graduated in 2023 enrolled in college, according to National Student Clearinghouse Research Center data. That's compared to 64 percent of suburban graduates and 59 percent of urban graduates.

College can make a huge difference in earning potential. An American man with a bachelor’s degree earns an estimated $900,000 more over his lifetime than a peer with a high school diploma, research by the Social Security Administration has found. For women, the difference is about $630,000.

A lack of a college degree is no obstacle to opportunity in places such as Wyoming County, where people like to say there are more cows than people. The dairy farms, potato fields and maple sugar houses are sources of identity and jobs for the county just east of Buffalo.

Around the country, many students feel jaded by the high costs of college tuition. And Americans are increasingly skeptical about the value of college, polls have shown.

In upstate New York, high school junior Devon Wells grew up on his family farm in Perry, but doesn't see his future there. He's considering a career as a welder or as an electrical line worker in South Carolina, where he heard the pay might be double what he would make at home. None of his plans requires college, he said.

“I grew up on a farm, so that’s all hands-on work. That’s really all I know and would want to do,” Devon said.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.