Rural Higher Ed Institutions Team Up to Boost Community Resilience and Economic Mobility for Rural Learners

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Apr 23, 2024, 08:00 ET

Education Design Lab will convene rural-serving higher education institutions to develop skill-based programs aimed at creating new opportunities for rural learners and communities.

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Education Design Lab (the Lab) today announced the launch of its new Rural College Design and Data Academy. This academy comprises institutions based in rural areas throughout the nation that will work together to strengthen the capacity of rural colleges to design and implement new pathways to economic mobility for rural learners – and measure their success. Underpinned by the learnings from the Lab's Building Rural Innovation, Designing Educational Strategies (BRIDGES) Design Challenge, participating institutions will evaluate their program's impact on learners' education, employment, and economic outcomes using the Lab's Data Collaborative for a Skills-Based Economy (Data Collab) infrastructure.

The education-to-workforce pipeline plays a critical role in rural communities across the country. However, rural-serving institutions often do not have the same access to state funding, infrastructure, and human resources as other institutions to provide innovative and responsive programs and supports for rural learners. Rural communities also account for 75% of people living in education deserts, or areas with one or fewer higher education institutions within 25 miles. Thus, rural learners often have inequitable postsecondary experiences that lead to lower college completion rates. It is therefore critical that higher education institutions take the necessary steps to make opportunities available to rural students to obtain skills needed to access meaningful employment.

"Rural communities are often overlooked, facing limited resources and systemic barriers to success in education and work," said Dr. Leslie Daugherty, Senior Director of Design Programs at the Education Design Lab. "By harnessing the power of these emerging learning models, we're embarking on a journey to design more equitable and career-driven routes to economic agility for rural learners nationwide."

Using the Lab's human-centered design process, participating rural postsecondary institutions will design and deploy transformative opportunities that address rural learner and community needs. The Lab will provide implementation grants of up to $50,000, funded by Ascendium Education Group. Institutions involved in the Rural College Design and Data Academy include:

Shasta College, California
Allegany College of Maryland, Maryland
Coahoma Community College, Mississippi
Crowder College, Missouri
Northern Pennsylvania Regional College, Pennsylvania
Medical University of South Carolina + Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College, South Carolina
Motlow State Community College, Tennessee
Uintah Basin Technical College, Utah
Spokane Community College + Washington State University - Extension Ferry County, Washington
Bridge Valley Community and Technical College, West Virginia
Northcentral Technical College, Wisconsin

"Through our partnership with the Education Design Lab, we're not just envisioning a better future for rural learners – we're actively building it," said Dr. Jenni Martin, acting president of Spokane Community College. "The innovative models championed by the Lab encourage rural learners to pursue higher education options and pave the way for sustainable economic growth for rural communities."

Since its founding in 2013, the Education Design Lab has worked to strengthen the capacity of higher education institutions and community colleges which serve "New Majority Learners," or learners from previously "nontraditional" backgrounds including learners of color, learners from low-income backgrounds, and rural learners. Learn more about the Lab's work with rural students through BRIDGES Rural: www.eddesignlab.org/project/bridgesrural.

About Education Design Lab
The Education Design Lab (the Lab) is a national nonprofit that co-designs, prototypes, and tests education-to-workforce models through a human-centered design process focused on understanding learners' experiences, addressing equity gaps in higher education, and connecting learners to economic mobility. Learn more: www.eddesignlab.org.

SOURCE Education Design Lab