Byron Trott, a top banker and founder of Trott Family Foundation and Trott Family Philanthropies, has made a commitment of $150 million over 10 years to assist the efforts of private colleges and public universities as they recruit rural students, Bloomberg reports.

The donation builds on the Giving Pledge signatory’s previous gift of $20 million, which established the STARS Program (Small Town and Rural Students College Network), an initiative of 16 colleges and universities dedicated to creating opportunity for students from America’s small towns and rural communities. According to STARS, these students often face unique obstacles to attending college; while students in small towns and rural communities graduate high school at roughly the same rate as students in metro areas, they are only half as likely to graduate from a selective college or university.

The latest commitment will double the number of schools in the program. The gift also will add more support for high school students in their higher education journey, in part through an organization called the Rooted Alliance.

“STARS’ first year demonstrated that there is an appetite and imperative for our nation’s leading universities and colleges to better serve the massive talent pool in our small towns and rural regions,” said Trott. “STARS and its affiliated programs are opening doors in higher education for high-achieving rural students they might not have found otherwise; and the students, campuses, and our economy will all be the better for it.”

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