# What the Success for Rural Students and Communities Act Does

This bill creates a new federal grant program designed to help rural students get to college and stay there. The government would award grants of at least $1 million each to partnerships of schools, colleges, economic development groups, and community organizations working together in rural areas. These grants would last between 5 and 9 years, giving communities time to build sustainable programs rather than quick fixes.

The core idea is simple: rural students often face barriers that urban and suburban students don't. They might live far from colleges, have limited career exposure, or come from families where nobody has attended college. This program aims to change that by funding local partnerships to provide support starting as early as middle school and continuing through college completion. For example, a rural partnership might use grant money to pay for transportation so high school students can visit nearby colleges, provide counseling about financial aid, or help students take college courses while still in high school to earn credits toward a degree.

The bill also recognizes that rural communities need jobs for college graduates to come home to. So partnerships can use funds to work with local employers to develop job training programs, support entrepreneurship, improve internet and transportation infrastructure that limits job opportunities, and create career pathways that connect education directly to regional employment needs. This could mean helping a rural college develop a nursing program if the region has hospitals looking for nurses, or supporting remote work opportunities so graduates can work for companies anywhere while living in their hometown.

To receive a grant, partnerships must contribute matching funds equal to at least 20 percent of what they're requesting from the federal government, ensuring local commitment to the effort. The bill also sets aside money for research to figure out what actually works in rural communities so successful approaches can be shared with other rural areas facing similar challenges.

Success for Rural Students and Communities Act of 2021

Stefanik, Elise M.

Success for Rural Students and Communities Act of 2021 This bill establishes a grant program through which the Department of Education may award funds to eligible partnerships to support rural postsecondary education and economic growth and development in rural communities. A grant recipient must be a partnership whose members represent at least three designated types of organizations, specifically (1) a local educational agency or educational service agency serving a rural area, (2) an institution of higher education (IHE), (3) a regional economic development entity, or (4) a rural community-serving organization with demonstrated success supporting rural students in accessing higher education and attaining degrees. A grant recipient must use awarded funds to carry out no fewer than two specified activities, namely (1) improving postsecondary enrollment rates for rural secondary school students, (2) increasing enrollment and completion rates of rural nontraditional students in degree programs at IHEs, (3) creating or strengthening academic programs at rural-serving IHEs to prepare graduates to enter into high-need occupations in the regional and local economies, or (4) generating local and regional economic development that creates employment opportunities for rural students with postsecondary degrees.