
Alex Milan Tracy for Underscore
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The dozens of independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan news organizations that make up the Rural News Network are developing the broadest news alliance reporting on rural America. These newsrooms are pursuing coverage that provides a more complete picture of what it means to live and work in these communities.
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LATEST NEWS FROM THE NETWORK
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The number of 18-year-olds is about to drop sharply, packing a wallop for colleges — and the economy
January 08, 2025
In so many towns, their identity is inextricably linked to the college that’s been there forever. It’s a huge source of local pride. It’s also a big source of good-paying jobs that are not replaceable.
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‘Easy to just write us off’: Rural students’ choices shrink as colleges slash majors
November 26, 2024
As enrollments fall, rural-serving universities are shedding a huge number of programs.
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What might happen if the Education Department were closed?
November 22, 2024
Deleting the agency would not undo federal law providing money for students in rural places, with disabilities or who come from low-income families, but doling out that money and overseeing it could get messy.
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A community college promises a rural county it ‘hasn’t been left to die’
September 06, 2024
Under the shadow of the shuttered mills and mines, Lincoln County, Montana, is breaking free of dependence on extractive industries. At the center of that future is a local community college
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The fastest-growing college expense may not be what people think
August 22, 2024
College housing costs are rising faster than tuition, as some universities try to rein them in.
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A small rural town needed more Spanish-language child care. Here’s what it took
June 15, 2024
In Lexington, Nebraska, where two-thirds of residents are Hispanic, hundreds of children lack access to high-quality child care from providers who can communicate with their parents. Something had to change.
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The story of how one college abruptly closed — and kept everyone in the dark
May 18, 2024
‘You don’t think your school is going to close down when they’ve given you a lottery number to choose your room for next year.’
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After its college closes, a rural community fights to keep a path to education open
January 26, 2024
Chatfield College converts its assets into a nonprofit to help local students persist in pursuing higher education.
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How the anti-CRT push has unraveled local support for schools
January 18, 2024
New study shows how people’s level of exposure to 11 anti-CRT ‘plots’ shaped their perceptions of their community’s schools.
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The (mostly) Republican moms fighting to reclaim their Idaho school district from conservatives
December 11, 2023
The far-right takeover of West Bonner school district disrupted learning and prompted an exodus of students and teachers. A group of moms – many of them Republican – organized to fight back.
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Teachers struggle to teach the Holocaust without running afoul of new ‘divisive concepts’ rules
September 28, 2023
In New Hampshire, laws restricting K-12 instruction on ‘divisive concepts’ yet requiring students be taught about the Holocaust are colliding in the classroom.
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Who picks school curriculum? Idaho law hands more power to parents
August 14, 2023
New law expanding input from non-educators forces good but tough conversations in some districts, but sets up gridlock in others.
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To fight teacher shortages, schools turn to custodians, bus drivers and aides
August 07, 2023
In two and a half years, the teacher training program has grown from 50 applicants to about 1,000, with most coming from rural areas of Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama and California.
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College tuition breaks for Native students spread, but some tribes are left out
July 18, 2023
Some states are instituting free or reduced tuition programs for Native American students, but those from tribes not recognized by the federal government don’t qualify
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The school counselor pipeline is broken. Can new federal money fix it?
June 26, 2023
Low pay and limited training pushes mental health professionals away from working with young people. But amid fears of a youth mental health crisis, the U.S. government is pumping new money into programs designed to help.
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