Rural Communities Seeking to Retain College Graduates

According to an April 2, 2008 article from Inside Higher Ed, rural communities across the country are seeking ways to encourage their residents to return home and remain in the area after completing their college degrees. Students from rural areas often leave their local region to attend college and, after completing their degrees, do not return home to begin their careers (sometimes due to personal choice, and sometimes due to the job market or other economic factors). Congress is considering legislation that would enable the U.S. Department of Education to provide grant money to help colleges build partnerships with school districts, educational agencies, employers and other groups, with the ultimate goal of training students in skills that could then be put to use in local rural economies. Arizona recently implemented a pilot program designed to target specific needs in that region's job market.

The article is available at the Inside Higher Ed Web site.