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Research in the rural mid-south shows that not only do community colleges provide a direct economic boost, they expand a community’s social and cultural identity

Through nearly 100 interviews in three case study communities in the mid-south, rural community colleges were found to be major instruments in creating a higher quality of life in their towns. Aside from bringing some economic advantage to these communities, the rural colleges served as major tools in defining a community’s sense of character. The study found three benefits community colleges offer their communities.

First, rural community colleges bring a diverse workforce. By requiring high levels of education and specialization, they often have to import labor, and this causes a rippling effect throughout the community. By bringing a highly specialized individual from another state, an urban area, or another geographic region, not only is the rural college served, but the community expands its sense of self-definition. This individual adds a context to the community through his or her interaction, and exposes community members to a difference in thinking.

Second, rural community colleges are hubs of activity that transcend social class stratification. As rural colleges offer speaker series, outdoor summer concerts, leisure education, literacy instruction, and so on, they begin to form new circles of interaction that otherwise would not exist. This extends important social systems and support networks.

Third, rural community colleges are tools for keeping the rural labor force up-to-date and grounded in rural America. They often do more than this, exposing students to new ideas, students of different races and nationalities, and frameworks of thought beyond families and immediate social networks. They challenge individuals to grow, but also protect and create opportunities to stay in a home town, get important job training, and make serious occupational choices.

Rural community colleges are much more than tools for financing rural America, and can be significant partners in rural development and rejuvenation. Work such as this study, completed and funded by the Mid-South Partnership for Community Colleges, can do a great deal in helping emerging partnerships interested in the advocacy of rural issues.

Contributed by: Michael Miller, Professor in the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Contact him at mtmille@uark.edu or 479.575.3582. Condensed from a longer article.