A diverse student body is, and has long been, essential to the educational mission of Stanford. We are dedicated to fostering a diverse intellectual community that “expands our horizons, enables understanding across difference, prevents complacency and promotes intellectual breadth.” We take pride in enrolling an exceptionally diverse undergraduate student body, believing that educating individuals from every walk of life is vital for the successful future of our world.

To further this mission, we are committed to ensuring that students who are disconnected from urban centers and their abundant resources have access to information about the opportunities available at various higher education institutions, including Stanford and those within the STARS Network. Therefore, we are proud and excited to be a member of the newly formed STARS Network and plan to pursue the following initiatives:

• To ensure the successful design and execution of a program that engages rural students across the U.S., we will assign a dedicated staff member for this initiative.

• We will also develop new programming specifically for rural students. This includes launching a fall fly-in program, hiring student ambassadors who can share their experiences as rural students at Stanford, and implementing other targeted outreach efforts. These initiatives are aimed at ensuring rural students recognize that Stanford, and similar institutions, are welcoming and suitable options for their college education.

• Stanford is committed to actively participating in all STARS Network activities to help boost college enrollment rates among rural students within our network.