• 07 Dec, 2025 *

One thing I like to ask my geography students at the beginning of the school year:

"What is arguably one of the biggest variables for college readiness?"

I get many answers.

"Intelligence?"

"Willingness to work harder?"

At this point, I usually tell them to think more obscure. After a few rounds of ‘why do you think it works like that?’ and ‘what makes this family here different than this family there?’ I usually have a student who cracks the case when they notice the course they are sitting in:

"Geography?"

And then I really delve into the nuts and bolts of education - and how where a student is born can play a huge role in education trajectory.

Smaller districts often struggle with attracting teachers due to challenges in providing competitive wages. They have fewer tax payers, who generally pay fewer tax dollars due to lower property values. Somerville ISD teachers can expect to earn around 48k their first year teaching. Dallas ISD starts at over 60k. But even beyond teacher salary, larger schools have specialized college liaisons, more counselors, and college and community contacts. They’re also more likely to offer Career and Technical Education options. Even outside of college, urban schools have more options.

Many rural communities are located in what’s called a college desert. This means that the nearest college is so far removed that it can actually dissuade students from leaving home to pursue school, as dorm costs or apartment living can greatly increase the cost of college. Opportunities to learn a trade may be few and far in between.

Related, rural communities have fewer employment opportunities available and those employment opportunities pay less. The cost of living in these communities is usually cheaper, but it does mean that college costs are more likely to be out of reach compared to their urban counterparts.

While an increasing number of rural schools do offer AP or dual enrollment classes, these are heavily limited. Dallas ISD offers AP and dual credit options for most of their core four classes, as well as many advanced extracurricular options. In contrast, Somerville ISD offers a single dual credit course to seniors, two college level math, three college level social studies and none for science.

Students in more urban or suburban schools can graduate with two years of college completed at a fraction of the cost. Meanwhile, a student in Somerville will have to pay more tuition, live on campus, or commute, all of which will drive up their costs.

In Texas, we have a top 10% admittance rule that is supposed to help with this. While that has its own problems, it also doesn’t fix the underlying problem: students in many rural and underprivileged still end up having less experience with academic rigor, higher college costs, and lacking the soft skills and competitiveness their urban counterparts have.

Around 15% of Texans live in what is considered a rural area (less than 5000 population according to the Texas Comptroller).

Rural counties in Texas. (Credit: https://demographics.texas.gov)

So, a child’s future prospects are possibly most heavily impacted by where they were born. How can we fix it? One idea is to increase funding for rural schools. But more than that, I think a conversation between legislators, educators, and communities needs to happen to give these kids a truly level playing field.

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#education #geography #rambling