Resource Library

The third in a six-part podcast series, this Rural Matters episode features Education Design Lab and community college partners participating in their BRIDGES initiative. Partners share what they’ve learned through their participation in the project so far and how they can continue to support the future of work for rural learners.

The impact of earning micro-credentials on the social mobility of rural learners is explored in this report from Digital Promise. Case studies of four postsecondary institutions that are using micro-credentials to create pathways for rural learners are also featured, providing institutions with innovative ideas to meet regional labor market needs.

In 2021, we saw the impact partnership and collaboration can make in helping transform the lives of learners from low-income backgrounds. Our report tells the story of our philanthropy during 2021 and what can be achieved when organizations work together.

The second in a six-part podcast series, this Rural Matters episode spotlights research that identifies rural-serving institutions (RSIs). Representatives from the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges share why having a metric for identifying RSIs is important and how they hope their research continues to strengthen the narrative about the relationship between rural colleges and rural communities.

This episode is the first in a new six-part podcast series from Rural Matters. Four representatives from philanthropic organizations, including Ascendium, share why it’s important to support rural postsecondary education and workforce training. Through their strategies, each organization is working to remove roadblocks and close equity gaps for learners in rural communities.

The second in a series from Education Design Lab, this brief dives into five pilot projects from rural community colleges participating in the BRIDGES Rural Design Challenge. Each pilot was designed to increase knowledge, connections and understanding which can lead to institutional change and economic growth in rural communities.

This report provides new insights into demographic and economic indicators on rural areas, rural college enrollment trends and rural college communities to broaden how rural education is viewed and spark new questions. The report also provides an interactive data tool that is part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Student Success Through Applied Research Lab project, funded by Ascendium. This report and its accompanying data tool aim to help researchers and policymakers more accurately portray rural areas and colleges to inform, expand and ultimately improve educational opportunities and outcomes in rural areas.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Student Success Through Applied Research (SSTAR) Lab completed their Mapping Rural Colleges project, funded by Ascendium. This project builds on research previously conducted by the SSTAR Lab and publicly available data to generate foundational, robust research about the state of rural postsecondary education and create an interactive data tool. This data tool aims to be a resource providing a more comprehensive view of rural postsecondary education for education leaders, researchers, practitioners and national networks exploring how to respond to demographic and enrollment shifts in rural institutions and communities.

To complement their rural-serving institutions (RSIs) data tool, the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges (ARRC) also released a report detailing their process and findings. The report uses ARRC’s new metric to identify over one thousand RSIs, providing insights on these institutions, their learners and the communities they serve.

Ascendium supported the creation of a mapping tool that identifies rural-serving institutions (RSIs) through a formal framework developed by the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges. The tool can be used by researchers, policymakers, leaders at RSIs and philanthropic organizations to better support rural institutions and the learners they serve.

The final segment of an eight-part Rural Matters podcast series, sponsored by Ascendium, features the work of University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Nicholas Hillman and his colleagues at the Student Success Through Applied Research Lab. Hillman discusses his current research efforts and goals to map rural-located postsecondary providers, providing a deeper understanding of rural institutions and learners.

Building transfer and career pathways for rural learners is a key issue for rural communities. The seventh in an eight-part podcast series from Rural Matters, sponsored by Ascendium, features discussions with two experts. This episode covers a range of topics from important issues in transferring between colleges, lessons learned from the COVID-19 health crisis, a STEM transfer partnership project and ideas on improving rural student transfer success.