USC’s newest effort to recruit more rural students

USC has joined a network that supports getting more rural students into college.

The STARS College Network features more than 30 colleges supporting pipeline programs and recruiting efforts as well as offering financial aid and on-campus programs for students from small towns and rural communities.

USC will provide opportunities with campus visits and summer programs that help prepare students academically and socially for college.

The university has worked to increase access to a quality college education in the past year with a program of guaranteeing admission for S.C. high school students ranked in the top 10 percent of their class, covering tuition and fees for those students whose families earn less than $80,000 a year and opening a center to aid first-generation students.