A special series from the Rural Matters podcast

This episode is the third of a special four-part series about issues facing rural higher education from our colleagues at the Rural Matters podcast. It is coproduced by MDRC and supported by Ascendium Education Group.

Rural America is not monolithic. About 15 to 20 percent of rural individuals identify as non-white, but in many areas of the country the percentage is much higher. Even in predominantly white states, rural diversity is increasing faster than urban diversity, which is important for understanding rural issues, including promoting access to higher education and dealing with rural poverty. 

In this episode, Rural Matters host Michelle Rathman chats with four experts on diversity in rural communities and institutions of higher education: MDRC’s Alyssa Ratledge; Deborah Santiago, the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Excelencia in Education; Edward Smith-Lewis, Executive Director of UNCF’s Institute for Capacity Building, a team dedicated to supporting the resiliency of HBCUs; and Noel Harmon, President and Executive Director of Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholars.