Thinking & Advocacy
I grew up on my family’s dairy farm, where my parents and grandparents showed me that ingenuity, adaptability, and strong community ties were the foundation of both our work and our lives. They also made clear that education is essential — not only as a path for individual opportunity but also as a way to strengthen the community and contribute to the public good.
Today, our family farm raises beef cattle and grows grapes, a reflection of how rural enterprises evolve to remain deeply woven into the fabric of their communities. That perspective shapes how I approach my work at ATD. As director of network relations, staff lead for ATD’s rural initiatives, and as a coach for rural-serving colleges, I see the same strengths in our colleges: ingenuity, adaptability, and commitment to community. Rural community colleges are resilient, resourceful, and full of potential.
“Rural students bring determination, strong community ties, and place-based knowledge that strengthen the entire higher education ecosystem.”
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Within the ATD Network, rural colleges stand out as anchors of community vibrancy. They prepare local workforces; support small businesses; offer arts, performances, sporting events, and cultural activities that enrich their regions; and create pathways to opportunity for students who want to learn close to home. Rural students bring determination, strong community ties, and place-based knowledge that strengthen the entire higher education ecosystem.
Rural America is diverse, with assets and strengths that vary across regions. As ATD’s Community Vibrancy Framework reminds us, thriving colleges and communities require both inside-out and outside-in approaches. Inside-out strategies build on the partnerships, innovation, and strengths already present in rural communities. Outside-in strategies bring research, policy, and investment aligned with rural realities. Together, these forces expand the conditions for vibrancy that allow rural colleges — and the communities they serve — to flourish.
Through ATD’s partnerships with rural community colleges, I have seen firsthand how these institutions lead with strength. This was especially clear in the Building Resiliency in Rural Communities for the Future of Work initiative, launched in December 2020 to help rural colleges strengthen their capacity to serve students and strengthen local economies. Colleges that participated in this initiative are highlighting their role in the community, aligning digital skills training with local workforce needs and fostering belonging among students. These innovations reflect the creativity and adaptability rural colleges bring to their work every day.
“When rural colleges share strategies with one another — whether around advising redesign, digital skills, or building community partnerships — they accelerate progress across the Network.”
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With this first iteration of the initiative coming to a close, we now have a clearer picture of what makes rural colleges successful. The seven colleges in the Rural Resiliency cohort have shown the power of peer learning and shared problem-solving. When rural colleges share strategies with one another — whether around advising redesign, digital skills, or building community partnerships — they accelerate progress across the Network.
When I visit rural campuses, I often hear the same question: What can we do next? The answer is straightforward: focus on what you know best — your students and your community. Then align strategy, evidence, and partnerships, and commit to growing approaches that deliver real results.
These principles are reflected in a new report, Advancing Success and Preparing All Students for the Digital Economy. Written by Education Northwest, the evaluator of the Rural Resiliency initiative, the report draws on four years of data collection. It identifies four conditions that supported successful implementation of effective practices at the seven cohort colleges:
- Committed leadership with support from cross-campus teams created a strong foundation for action.
- Aligned professional learning built capacity for faculty members and staff.
- A strong culture of evidence guided planning, implementation, and evaluation.
- Strong relationships with community partners supported students and strengthened communities.
Together, these conditions show how rural-serving colleges are already leading with strength. The report highlights their strategies and adds to what we know about how these approaches help students succeed. Like seeds planted in fertile ground, these strategies are beginning to grow — but we also need a larger field where their impact can spread more widely.
To meet this need, the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) awarded $10 million in 2024 to MDRC to establish the National Rural Higher Education Research Center — the first IES research and development center focused specifically on rural postsecondary education. The center’s purpose is to generate actionable, policy-relevant research to strengthen college access and success for rural students.
The research will focus on four guiding questions:
- What is the current rural college-going and completion landscape?
- How can pathways from high school to college be strengthened?
- How do rural students make decisions about postsecondary options?
- How can institutions and states support persistence and completion?
The work will take place in 10 states, with advisors representing 21 states, ensuring the research reflects the diverse assets and experiences of rural communities across the country.
ATD is proud to serve as a dissemination affiliate for the center. Our role is to ensure that findings reach the colleges and communities who can put them into action and to make sure the voices of our colleges influence the national conversation on rural higher education. ATD will create spaces at future convenings — DREAM, the Data & Analytics Summit, Network webinars, and communities of practice, for example — where center researchers and ATD colleges can learn together. ATD’s commitment is to make sure this isn’t just research about rural colleges but research with and for them, conducted in ways that support and strengthen rural-serving institutions.
“Rural community colleges show what is possible when institutions build on their strengths.”
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Just as my family’s farm evolved from dairy to beef cattle and to grapes, rural-serving colleges continue to adapt and innovate to sustain their communities. Rural community colleges show what is possible when institutions build on their strengths. The new report strengthens the foundation of what we know works today, while the National Rural Higher Education Research Center will expand that work, creating the evidence base needed to inform practice and policy at scale.
As colleges in the ATD Network, you are part of this story. I encourage you to read the new report, engage with the center’s updates, and share the innovations happening on your campuses. Together, we are creating a future where rural-serving colleges advance community vibrancy and shape the future of higher education.
Learn more about the Building Resiliency in Rural Communities for the Future of Work and other related initiatives.