In part one of the second episode of this series, Michelle met with Senior Policy Analyst Ivy Love and Senior Program Associate Tiffany Thai from the Center on Education & Labor at New America. Ivy Love's work focuses on community colleges, their students, and federal and state policies that support them. Before New America, Love worked as a policy analyst for the Association of Community College Trustees, as a lecturer at Washington University in St. Louis and Webster University, and as a refugee orientation educator at the International Institute of St. Louis. Love is a PhD candidate in higher education administration at Saint Louis University.

Tiffany Thai comes from a first-generation, low-income background. She is passionate about transformational learning and advancing educational equity for marginalized students and their communities.

Michelle, Tiffany, and Ivy explore the critical role of community colleges in providing bachelor's degrees, particularly in rural areas, and discuss the challenges these institutions face, including resistance to program expansion, varying state policies, and the importance of adult learners. They emphasize the need for employer engagement to address workforce shortages and advocate for policies that support community colleges in meeting local educational needs.

In part two of this episode, Michelle was joined by the Executive Director of the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges and a Professor of Higher Education at Appalachian State University, Dr. Andrew Koricich. His research focuses on postsecondary education issues facing rural communities, with an emphasis on rural-serving postsecondary institutions.

Michelle and Dr. Koricich discuss the benefits of community college bachelor's programs (CCB) from an institutional and policymaker perspective. They highlight how CCBs can help rural community colleges address enrollment drops, build relationships with employers, and meet the workforce needs of their communities. They also emphasize the importance of providing postsecondary options for adults who want to pursue new careers. They also explore rural serving institutions' challenges, such as financial constraints, lack of support, and the need for collaboration and regional partnerships to expand CCB programs.

Ascendium sponsors this episode of The Rural Impact podcast, believing that learning after high school transforms lives. Driven by this belief, their philanthropy focuses on systemic change to elevate opportunities for learners from low-income backgrounds. Ascendium has a particular interest in elevating rural postsecondary education and workforce training. They fund research and resources to help ensure more rural learners have pathways to good jobs that lead to upward mobility. Learn more about their Rural Impact at ascendiumphilanthropy.org, sign up for their newsletter, and follow them on social media.