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On the way back from the College National Finals Rodeo, graduate student Justise Jones and her assistant coach discussed a pertinent question: Where have all the cowboys gone?
Of about 30 athletes on the Colorado Mesa University rodeo team, only four are men, even though they have traditionally dominated the sport. The team’s ratio is an extreme example of an underexamined trend: fewer rural men are attending four-year colleges.
Even when men join the team, Jones said, “it’s really tough to get boys to stick around.”
While experts say rural men often don’t need a college degree to make a living in their communities, they also worry the men will miss out on opportunities for increased economic mobility, greater civic engagement, and access to healthcare. Researchers also worry that fewer rural men in college might weaken the health of rural communities by reducing the skilled workforce and decreasing the tax base.
National college data shows rural residents are less likely than urban and suburban residents to earn a bachelor’s degree, and men attend college at lower rates than women.
At Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction, about 54% of students are women. The school tracks the counties and regions students come from but doesn’t specifically classify students as rural. However, many students come from rural areas of Colorado. Nationally, there is a significant lack of data on rural students.
Some Colorado Mesa academic programs are drawing more interest from rural men. They include CMU Tech, the college’s two-year, open-admission school that offers vocational programs such as welding and electric line work.
Research has shown a sense of belonging on campus also helps attract students to college. The rodeo team helps embody that idea. The team was established at CMU as a club in the 1970s before becoming a varsity sport in 2018.
The annual school rodeo has become one of the university’s largest events. The event also features a barbecue competition called the Maverick Meat Up where President John Marshall smokes free food for students and community members.
“Rodeo week is probably the most stressful week,” said Wylee Mitchell, a female rodeo athlete who recently graduated from Colorado Mesa. “But it is the best experience that I had while in college.”
But rodeo coach Branden Edwards said some of the roadblocks to attracting rural men have been financial, and he wants more scholarships to help offset the costs of attending college. He also said he often has to negotiate with rural men about what college can offer them, while recruiting women tends to be easier.
“A lot more of the women that we’re recruiting are wanting to go into business, education, accounting, or nursing,” he said. “So Mesa is the dream come true for them.”
University of Kentucky professor Ty McNamee, who studies rural colleges and students, said the rodeo team’s experience mirrors what he’s seen across the country. McNamee and several colleagues are studying why gender in rural areas factors into the likelihood of going to college.
His research shows that men often feel more pressure to provide for their families, place less value on a college degree, and are less likely to enroll if they come from lower-income households.
The women on Colorado Mesa’s rodeo team back up what Edwards and McNamee have seen in how expectations and culture can shape whether a student goes to college.
For Jones, who is from Canada, college was an expectation. That’s not always the case in families where men are expected to work or help on a farm or ranch.
“That’s just kind of like the way it goes,” Jones said.
For McKenzie Betts, a 20-year-old senior from rural Alaska, going to college wasn’t necessarily about whether she could make a living in a rural area. She saw college as a gateway to create options for herself, no matter where she lives.
“The value of higher education is that it sets you apart when it comes to looking for your job in your career field, and it gives you a head start,” she said.
Edwards, who is from rural Colorado and graduated from CMU, said many rural men can make a living by working hard and having an entrepreneurial mindset.
But he also tries to communicate to prospective student athletes that he’s been afforded many opportunities because of his college education, even if he’s no longer working in the field he studied.
“College is just a great doorway into giving you options and how you want to make a living,” he said. “How you want to affect people and how you want to meet change.”
Jason Gonzales is a reporter covering higher education and the Colorado legislature. Chalkbeat Colorado partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Contact Jason at jgonzales@chalkbeat.org.
Jason Gonzales 2026-07-09 22:52:53
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