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Rural Community College Initiative 

The Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI), supported by the Ford Foundation, aims to help community colleges in distressed rural areas to expand access to postsecondary education and help foster regional economic development. MDC, Inc. managed RCCI in its demonstration phase, 1994-2001, providing technical assistance to 24 participating community colleges. A series of reports by the RCCI Assessment Team on the experiences of those 24 RCCI colleges is available from the American Association of Community Colleges. In 2002, RCCI was institutionalized as a program of the Southern Rural Development Center and the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development. For more information on the demonstration phase, see http://www.mdcinc.org/rcci/aboutrcci.htm. For more information on the current phase, see http://srdc.msstate.edu/rcci/. 

** See new phase of RCCI **

• Alabama Southern Community College, Monroeville, AL
  
• Blackfeet Community College, Browning, MT
  
• Coahoma Community College, Clarksdale, MS
  
• Danville Community College, Danville, VA
  
• Fort Belknap College, Harlem, MT
  
• Fort Peck Community College, Poplar, MT
  
• Hazard Community College, Hazard, KY
  
• Laredo Community College, Laredo, TX
  
• Meridian Community College, Meridian, MS
  
• Mountain Empire Community College, Big Stone Gap, VA
  
• New Mexico State University at Carlsbad, Carlsbad, NM
  
• Northern New Mexico Community College, Espanola, NM
  
• Phillips Community College, Helena, AR
  
• Prestonsburg Community College, Prestonsburg, KY
  
• Salish Kootenai College, Pablo, MT
  
• Sinte Gleska University, Rosebud, SD
  
• Sitting Bull College, Fort Yates, ND
  
• Somerset Community College, Somerset, KY
  
• Southeast Community College, Cumberland, KY
  
• Southeastern Community College, Whiteville, NC
  
• Southwest Texas Junior College, Uvalde, TX
  
• Technical College of the Lowcountry, Beaufort, SC
  
• University of New Mexico at Gallup, Gallup, NM
  
• Wallace Community College Selma, Selma, AL
  

News Stories

• "Minnesota Colleges Create Partnerships to Teach Technology Skills in Rural Areas" - Chronicle for Higher Education, 07/29/2003              
• "Community Colleges Help Bridge Rural Economic Divide" - Community College Times, 02/09/2002

AACC Publications - Buy any of the publication below at the AACC Bookstore!

• Executive Summary - Opportunities in Place: National Assessment of the Rural Community College Initiative (AdobePDF)     
• Full Report - Opportunities in Place: National Assessment of the Rural Community College Initiative (Adobe PDF)                         
• Access: Removing Barriers to Participation (February 1998) (Adobe PDF)                    
• Economic Development (March 1998) (Adobe PDF)                
• Team Building (Adobe PDF)                
• Institutional Capacity (Adobe PDF)

Other Publications

• Rural America At A Glance (2003) -  A six-page brochure that highlights the most recent indicators of social and economic conditions in rural areas for use in developing policies and programs to assist rural areas.