Book Review: Mara Tieken (2025). Educated Out: How Rural Students Navigate Elite Colleges--And What it Costs Them. The University of Chicago Press.

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Bibliographic Details
Title:	Book Review: Mara Tieken (2025). Educated Out: How Rural Students Navigate Elite Colleges--And What it Costs Them. The University of Chicago Press.
Authors:	Cuervo, Hernan¹ hicuervo@unimelb.edu.au
Source:	Australian & International Journal of Rural Education. Mar2026, Vol. 36 Issue 1, p237-243. 7p.
Subject Terms:	First-generation college students, Higher education, Elitism in education, Psychology of students, *Educational equalization, Rural youth, Cultural capital, Social classes
Abstract:	This article reviews Mara Tieken’s book Educated Out: How Rural Students Navigate Elite Colleges—And What it Costs Them, which explores the college experiences of rural, first-generation students attending an elite liberal arts college in the Northeastern United States. Drawing on qualitative longitudinal research with nine rural students and their families, the book examines how place, social class, and cultural capital shape these students’ access, belonging, and persistence in higher education. Tieken highlights the tensions rural students face between their home communities and elite college environments, including feelings of marginalization, political and cultural divides, and concerns about future opportunities and debt. The work contributes to understanding rural youth’s educational trajectories by emphasizing the complex interplay of geography, identity, and structural inequalities in shaping their college experiences and life paths. [Extracted from the article]
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Database:	Education Research Complete

Description
Abstract:	This article reviews Mara Tieken’s book Educated Out: How Rural Students Navigate Elite Colleges—And What it Costs Them, which explores the college experiences of rural, first-generation students attending an elite liberal arts college in the Northeastern United States. Drawing on qualitative longitudinal research with nine rural students and their families, the book examines how place, social class, and cultural capital shape these students’ access, belonging, and persistence in higher education. Tieken highlights the tensions rural students face between their home communities and elite college environments, including feelings of marginalization, political and cultural divides, and concerns about future opportunities and debt. The work contributes to understanding rural youth’s educational trajectories by emphasizing the complex interplay of geography, identity, and structural inequalities in shaping their college experiences and life paths. [Extracted from the article]
ISSN:	18397387
DOI:	10.47381/aijre.v36i1.841