Studies on U.S. rural youth indicate current regional and ethnic diversity; limited rural-urban differences; and some limited social change in terms of values, needs, and aspirations. The size of the rural youth population is considerable (25,013,948 out of a total youth population of 93,313,518 in 1970). The majority of rural youth are white…

Emphasizing the fact that rural youth in the U.S. are heterogeneous in their values, backgrounds, cultural heritages, and aspirations, this paper cites literature and studies which indicate that within the last 10 years rural youth have become more alike than different from their urban counterparts in values, attitudes, life goals, and mobility…