Join a community of scholars.

Through activities with your peers, become part of a close-knit community and create new friendships with other talented and engaged high school students from rural and small-towns across the country! Connect with WashU students, faculty, and staff who also hail from rural and small-town Heartland communities.

Through a combination of lectures, discussion, and hands-on activities, students will learn about developing interpersonal, leadership, and academic skills. The program will also explore the process for highly-selective university admissions with the guidance of WashU admissions officers. Students will be exposed to the kinds of academic and professional development opportunities available in an urban center through group activities, including social activities, that showcase the city of St. Louis.

The all-expenses-paid program will be hosted on WashU’s campus. All food, housing, and activities will be provided free of charge. Program participants must reside in on-campus housing for the duration of the program.

How to apply

Program dates: Sunday, July 13 – Saturday, July 19, 2025.

Eligibility

  • Must be a current high school sophomore, who is at least 15 years old or will turn 15 prior to July 1, 2025.
  • Must attend a rural or small-town high school within the United States.
  • Students of any citizenship who meet these criteria are eligible to apply.

Submitting the application

  • The application deadline for July 2025 has passed.
  • Applicants will be notified of their decision by early April 2025.
  • A note on recommenders: While the WashU Rural Scholars Academy application asks for contact information for a recommender, no written letter of recommendation is required. WashU staff will only reach out to recommenders if they need more information about elements of a student’s application. Recommenders are not required to send anything as part of the application, and should not be concerned if they are not contacted.

Free tuition

  • Thanks to a gift from Washington University in St. Louis alumna and Emerita Trustee Joyce Buchheit and her husband, Chauncy Buchheit, program participants will receive a scholarship to cover the cost of the week-long program including food, housing, and activities.
  • Participants can apply for funding to cover travel expenses.

How do we define rural and small-town?

We use data from the US Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics to determine which communities are considered to be “rural” or “small-town”. The Heartland Initiative serves high schools in rural or small-town communities within the WashU Pledge territories (Missouri and southern Illinois). Most rural areas have populations of less than 50,000 residents and are located several miles outside of an urban or suburban area. If you are unsure whether your high school would be considered rural or small-town, please contact Dacoda Scarlett at dscarlett@wustl.edu.

Design thinking workshop

This multi-day workshop provides students an overview of approaches to design thinking, which is an experiential, visually oriented process of identifying, creating, and implementing solutions to problems. Together we will study the importance of play and the value it brings to public spaces. Students learn hands-on methods for understanding people, synthesizing gathered information, identifying opportunities for design, prototyping, and communicating key concepts.

Lecture faculty

Amy Auman

Amy Auman

Lecturer, Communication Design
She/Her/Hers

Audra Hubbell

Audra Hubbell

Lecturer, Communication Design
She/Her/Hers

College admissions workshops

Lia Garofolo

She/Her/Hers

Assistant Director

Idaho; Kansas; Kentucky; Missouri (Kansas City and Western Missouri); Montana; Nebraska; North Dakota; South Dakota; Wyoming

Phil Layfield

He/Him/His

Assistant Director

Represents students in Missouri (Western and Southern Missouri)

Dacoda Scarlett

He/Him/His

Associate Director

Alaska; Iowa; Illinois (outside of Chicagoland and St. Loui Metro East); Missouri (Southern Missouri and Eastern Missouri excluding Franklin, Jefferson, St. Louis, and St. Charles Counties and St. Louis City)

Ariel Brown

She/Her/Hers

Senior Assistant Director, Student & Family Engagement for Student Financial Services

Rural peer ambassadors

Sol Manis

Class of 2027

Philosophy & Political Science
Bolivar, MO

Iris Mishra

Class of 2027

Anthropology & Art History
Memphis, MO

Auriel Prepejchal

Class of 2026

Computational Biology
Makanda, IL

Lyn Wilkins

Class of 2028

Creative Writing & Political Science
Ingalls, IN

Ash Withrow

Class of 2027

English & Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Benton, MO

Rebecca Vail

Class of 2028

Cognitive Neuroscience & East Asian Languages and Cultures
Waynesville, MO

Program contact

All questions should be directed to Dacoda Scarlett, Associate Director for Rural Recruitment, at dscarlett@wustl.edu.