Rural areas need more higher education centers to serve students too far away from college - Entrepreneur Generations

A college degree can be the key to better paying jobs for rural residents, but as many as 41 million adults in the U.S. live 25 miles or more away from the nearest college or university, or live where one community college is the only source of higher education nearby. And 3 million of those rural residents lack broadband internet too, according to the Urban Institute.

That distance can make the difference in whether or not someone decides to go to college or is able to finish a degree. "The impact goes beyond would-be students themselves. Communities that lack local colleges and universities also often lag in economic development, as they miss out on the spin-off start-up businesses and cultural amenities that institutions of higher education often create and that are increasingly necessary for attracting upscale residents and businesses," Anne Kim writes for Inside Higher Ed. Kim is a senior fellow and director of domestic policy at the liberal-leaning Progressive Policy Institute and a contributing editor at Washington Monthly, a nonprofit publication known for its annual rankings of U.S. colleges and universities. "Growing up in an 'education desert' thus not only makes it harder to attend college, but also means there are fewer opportunities for upward mobility in your hometown even if you do graduate. The richest 10 percent of the nation’s zip codes are predominantly college-rich metro areas, urban and suburban, with the best educated residents, while a majority of the poorest zip codes are rural." 

It's not feasible to establish a college in every rural area that lacks one, but some states have opened what they call "higher education centers": small brick-and-mortar anchors for colleges to offer online and in-person instruction and sometimes, occupational training that caters to the needs of local businesses. They essentially serve as "pop-up satellite campuses, community colleges and training agencies rolled into one," Kim writes.

Such higher education centers won't cater to every rural student's needs, since they offer a limited array of courses, and are still out of the price range of many students. But the model could be expanded upon and, with state and/or federal help, could go a long way toward eliminating higher education deserts, Kim writes.

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2oiYMmg Rural areas need more higher education centers to serve students too far away from college - Entrepreneur Generations

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