Sociology major Melody Moon ’15 attended the 2015 American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference in Chicago, April 16th-20th. Melody presented a paper at the conference, “Social Capital and College Persistence Among Rural Graduates”, that she co-authored with Professor Ingrid Nelson. Melody’s presentation drew from research she has been conducting with Professor Nelson and fellow Sociology major Caroline Martinez ’16 on a study of rural student performance in college. While Maine has a higher high school graduation rate than the US average, it has a lower college enrollment and completion rate. This study seeks to identify the factors of success for rural youth in Maine by focusing on the experiences of 43 Mitchell Scholarship recipients. All study participants remained in Maine from high school to college and continue to reside in Maine today.

Financial support for travel was provided by an Enrichment Grant from the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.