Abstract
This chapter examines the effects of one institutional practice-mentorship from faculty or instructors, academic or student affairs professionals, or peer mentorship-on the sense of belonging of rural college Students of Color. It conducts quasi-experimental propensity-score-matching techniques to match rural Students of Color who did and did not experience mentorship from faculty or instructors, academic or student affairs professionals, or peer mentorship to examine whether students who had those mentors had a significantly different sense of belonging compared to students. Mentorship in rural colleges and universities represents rural familism and rural community unity and has the potential to facilitate the acquisition of social capital and cultivate a greater sense of belonging among rural Students of Color. Mentorship may be an effective way to improve the experiences of some rural Students of Color; however, the results suggest that the effects of different types of mentors on the sense of belonging of rural Students of Color are heterogeneous.