Despite their local impact, rural public colleges have received less per student in state appropriations than the national average, which includes state flagships and research institutions. Their tuition revenue is also below average.

To help these schools respond to the current crisis, researchers from the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges said the federal government should create block grants for states that would help restore the institutions' pre-Great Recession funding levels. Future federal coronavirus aid should also be based on headcount, not full-time equivalent enrollment, they urged. The latest round of relief money uses a formula to distribute funding that includes headcount, enabling schools that enroll many part-time students to receive more money.

Read the full article about funding rural public colleges by Jeremy Bauer-Wolf at Higher Ed Dive.