See who's talking about ARRC's research or with our experts about issues relevant to regional colleges.
"I think some of that assumes that rural folks are naive and they're not. They can have complex feelings about college, but many of them know that can still open up a lot of important opportunities for their children. And so just because it's not a clean and easy understanding or set of feelings, doesn't mean they don't know that there's value."
A new report takes stock of how regional public institutions are serving local communities—and offers lessons for those looking to do so more effectively.
Read More[RCUs] would often say, ‘We’re not the community college, we’re not the flagship; we’re something in the middle."
This article explains how the competition between flagships & regional colleges is more fierce than ever, while the gap between both keeps widening.
Read More“...until your state has 100 percent of people who need a postsecondary credential holding one, you’re not at a shortage for students. Not even close.”
ARRC's researchers utilized its new RSI map to clearly define rural serving institutions from rural located institutions. ARRC's researchers also emphasizes the importance of this distinction.
Read More“A lot of think tanks and foundations interested in rural communities, as well as those in higher education who want to do research, tend to get stuck at the same roadblock: what counts as rural?”
Through ARRC's new Rural Serving Institution (RSI) report, the organization aims to further educate policymakers by clearly defining what it means to be rural-serving, in order to better support these institutions.
Read More“By and large, the only conversation about rural is: ‘OK, we know where an institution is, and that’s how we’re classifying them. What gets lost are institutions that may not be in a place formally classified as rural, but are doing important rural service and this is because … there’s no agreed upon definition.”
In an effort to further publicize ARRC's newest Regional-Serving Institution report, this article dives into how ARRC is redefining what it means to be rural-serving and further synthesizes ARRC's overall research findings.
Read More"Often these colleges are thought of as being in sparsely populated places. But an institution could be located on the edge of a suburban county but draw students from nearby rural areas."
This article explains ARRC's research discoveries when determining the rural-serving institutions of the U.S.
Read More“Even if you find a really good ‘rural’ definition, you’re still leaving out these other institutions that are doing that work. So, we sort of see it as we’re building a bigger tent. We want to be more inclusive in talking about these institutions than talking about those in a rural place.”
Having recently launched January 31st, 2021, ARRC's Rural-Serving Postsecondary Institutions report focuses on identifying and mapping rural-serving colleges. ARRC aims to use this report as a way to show the importance these institutions have for economic opportunity, educational growth, philanthropic targeted investment, and further research and conversations.
Read More“Serving goes beyond just where you’re located. The way we approached this was not a strict definition where you must meet this criteria and that criteria, but instead, to come up with this metric that is relative so that we’re comparing institutions to each other.”
More higher education employees feel demoralized due to factors including policymakers and college leaders continuing with a normal fall schedule regardless of pandemic concerns, low compensation regardless of work demands, and inadequate staffing.
Read More"...many morale issues in higher education run deep enough that a free T-shirt will feel shallow and even insulting."
Factors such as misrepresented data from universities and lack of data regarding diversity, job placement, and student success after college lead experts to believe that the data used to create U.S. News and World Report college ranking list is insufficient to be credible. The U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard and current students are suggested as being more reliable sources of information.
Read MoreU.S. News and World Report has really capitalized on the fact that a lot of people, either they don't have the time or they don't really have the interest to go that deep. And so they're going to trust something like newspapers and World Report, which they think saves them time.
The Pandemic has allowed many employees in higher education to re-evaluate their work-life balance. The combination of burn out, lack of advancement and feeling overworked and underappreciated by the institution are leading factors into why many professionals are leaving the field.
Read MoreSome are leaving the field or not taking vacant positions. Others are moving between institutions. For supervisors, "that in and of itself is the same problem" as people leaving the field altogether, because it's still turnover.
Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education is taking a major — but controversial — step meant to stem the system’s fiscal woes, shore up academic offerings at struggling institutions, and work more collaboratively with elected officials. The system’s Board of Governors on Wednesday unanimously approved a plan to consolidate six of the 14 universities into two institutions.
Read More“Even if this was always going to be the end result, there's a feeling like your fate is being handed down to you.”
Collapsing Pennsylvania's regional system of higher ed schools into two institutions is supposed to save money without sacrificing jobs or access to education, but the analysis of the proposal seems to indicate otherwise.
Read MoreBut, as someone who studies rural-serving colleges and grew up in a PASSHE town, it’s concerning that these conversations are happening in ways that are not aligned with evidence-based decision making. These decisions are so important to our communities that we should be committed to making sure that our assumptions are founded and our solutions are meaningfully tailored to the stated goals.
Amid hearings, meetings and press conferences centered on plans by the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education to consolidate six universities, a new report details potential job losses for the public university system.
Read MoreIt’s difficult for me to see how making cuts to an anchor institution that has devastating effects for the local community is good for students, if those students are themselves from the community.
The OU Provost’s Office is assessing salary data to examine faculty pay equity, while one OU professor said she’s found a consistent pay gap between men and women in the same profession at OU through her own analysis. Political science professor Alisa Fryar compiled data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System on the 94 R1 research universities.
Read MoreWhile I don’t know if the pay disparity seen in Oklahoma and elsewhere can be easily fixed in the short term, it can be alleviated. I don't know if we'll get it right, but we can certainly try to get it less wrong.
As the pandemic sapped dormitory projects of their financial reserves, a contractor told the University System of Georgia it had a "win-win" financial proposal, according to newly available documents. The system said no, and soon, the contractor allegedly said it would not be cleaning enough to meet state public health recommendations.
Read More“[Muscling a company to hold up its end of the bargain takes energy and resources] and does illustrate a major source of conflict that can arise in public-private partnerships. At the end of the day, that private entity is going to do what it thinks is necessary to maximize profit.”
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education formed nearly four decades ago with a mandate to give Pennsylvania's low- and moderate-income families access to "high quality education at the lowest possible cost." But for years, it has been bedeviled by inhospitable demographics and lackluster state investment that have left it cash-strapped and wanting for students.
Read More"This all ties to a willingness to provide funding to make education affordable."
Fearful of extensive layoffs and potentially deep cuts to student services, leaders of Colorado’s public colleges and universities are pressing lawmakers to restore $493 million the state chopped off their budgets last year.
Read MoreRegional colleges have difficulty supporting and graduating students, especially those from low-income families, due to the diminished state budgets. Too many people have become 'comfortable with broken promises for Coloradans.'
The ARRC team discuss how regional public universities are more resilient than people give them credit for. Regional publics are fighting to overcome exterior factors like failed public policy and crushing inequality
Read MoreIf regionals need saving from anything, it’s bad public policy.
For generations, coal has been a constant in this northwestern Colorado city. But by 2030, the Craig Station stacks will go quiet as Colorado shifts to renewable energy. Coal has fueled not only Colorado’s power needs, but also Craig’s economy. The plant’s closure will idle 600 workers and cost a slew of support jobs. Leaders of Craig, a city about 40 miles west of Steamboat Springs, see a tight window of opportunity to build a new economic base, provide residents replacement jobs, and ensure the city’s survival. This story is the second in a two-part series produced as part of the Higher Education Media Fellowship at the Institute for Citizens & Scholars. The Fellowship supports new reporting into issues related to postsecondary career and technical education.
Read More"Community colleges have always molded to the area they serve. Their mission is to really align themselves with whatever their community needs."
Six universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education that officials intend to combine by fall 2022 would retain their names and identities after the move, according to the latest version of the proposal, although they'd be accredited as two distinct entities. The system has endured major enrollment losses in the last decade or so, and the health crisis has only aggravated its financial predicament.
Read MoreTuition at Pennsylvania's public universities has long been among the highest in the country, and not just because each PASSHE school has its own set of leaders, which would add overhead cost. I'm not convinced the called-for student savings could happen without more state money.
A new report by the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges has found that rural public colleges are underfunded compared to their peers. The report looked at 118 rural public colleges and universities that admit a large portion of applicants, including four schools in the UNC System — Appalachian State University, Elizabeth City State University, Western Carolina University and UNC-Pembroke.
Read More"The vast majority of Americans, including in North Carolina, are attending some of these more regional-oriented institutions. It's important as we continue to navigate the pandemic, that if we are interested in supporting rural communities and creating opportunity for the people there, we ought to invest in these institutions."
Regional state institutions are critical to rural community health, education and economies, says a report by a new research alliance focused on the under-examined sector. The alliance plans to publish additional reports and white papers, build accessible data sets, and advocate for regional colleges. The team also hopes that additional research partners and junior scholars will join the alliance and develop an interest in studying regional institutions.
Read MoreFull-time-equivalent enrollment has been the standard way of measuring the number of students at an institution for some time, and the problem is that that figure often undercounts the number of students that are at these types of institutions, many of which are serving part-time students.
A new study published by the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges reveals that the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on underserved rural colleges and surrounding communities could endanger the stability of local economies, health care systems and social mobility for the foreseeable future.
Read MoreOur goal with the ‘In Focus’ sections was to exemplify the reports’ findings in a way that reminds readers that these are real places providing services to real communities. The section on Native American students is especially important to us because there is a history of erasing Native American students in educational research, especially when relying on federal data.
Rural public colleges are local job engines, which means their closures would be economically devastating, according to a new report from the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges.
Read MoreThe ARRC researchers encouraged the government to boost workforce development and create a "Rural Serving Institution" designation in federal law that would provide grants for these institutions.
In an attempt to undo misconceptions and elevate these colleges' profiles, McClure and several like-minded academics devised the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges. The collaborative seeks to emphasize the importance of these schools, public and private, through academic study. Higher Ed Dive discussed with McClure what the research group hopes to accomplish and some of the myths surrounding regional colleges.
Read MoreWe want to move the degree attainment rate and have people enter the middle class. Regionals are more affordable and are going to be pivotal on these issues. But they can't do anything if we continue to undercut them.
This week Orphan, an assistant professor of higher education at the University of Denver, and some of her colleagues launched the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges. A central goal, she says, is to raise awareness of their roles and to make the narratives about them more complex.
Read More"The framing matters. It reflects whether or not we truly see, and therefore treat, regional colleges as an important part of the higher ed landscape and as a vital part of society."
Partisan governance is complicating the system's ability to respond to the pandemic, faculty and outside observers say.
Read MoreWorst-case scenario: Colleges will be directly responsible for increasing case counts in a region or state. To me that's a failure to assume the public health responsibility.
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The budget cuts now looming in this pandemic economy are poised to have an especially big impact on one group of colleges: public campuses that are regionally oriented. About 40 percent of the nation’s college students attend one of these campuses.
Read MoreWhat the nation’s public regionals do best is provide access to the students who live nearby and can’t go far away for college and contribute in deep ways to the health and vitality of their communities.
The questions aren’t really about if or when, but about how bad outbreaks could be – and whether having an in-person experience for students is worth the cost. With so much at stake, some students, parents and faculty are asking: Why take the risk at all? In many cases, it comes back to money.
Read MoreEven as a scholar and someone who believes that going online is the right decision, I know that in many cases, shifting to online means that institutions are going to be in a very tough spot financially. And that will mean jobs are on the line.
Told to leave campus quickly, rural college students now face longer-term impacts of COVID-19 on their college journeys.
Read MoreAnd I want to be in a world where folks from rural communities are in a position to start speaking up more and being heard better. So we need those folks to come back to do the work that we have to do
The coronavirus means major changes that are again expected to diminish learning and the college experience for some. And it brings about questions whether a return could put students and faculty at risk of sickness, or worse, death.
Read MoreEven with the precautions, there is still a risk — and that risk is human life. It’s my hope that institutions will really emphasize and prioritize human life over their finances.
University presidents are scrambling for answers on everything from on-campus housing to revenue-generating sports.
Read MoreIf I’m a leader, I better be prepared to have a really good explanation for why it is that I brought people back to campus—understanding the risks—if somebody falls ill and dies.
Despite COVID-19 infections running rampant in many states, nearly 1,000 academic institutions are welcoming people back to their campuses.
Read MoreHad universities been provided with resources that would have allowed them to shut down in the fall and operate virtually, I think every single one of them would have done it.
ARRC is co-directed by five leading researchers on regional colleges and postsecondary education in rural contexts: Dr. Alisa Hicklin Fryar (professor at the University of Oklahoma), Dr. Andrew Koricich (associate professor at Appalachian State University), Dr. Kevin McClure (associate professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington), and Dr. Cecilia Orphan (associate professor at the University of Denver), and Dr. Vanessa Sansone (assistant professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio).
