Rural communities are historically overlooked in giving strategies, despite serving more than 10 million students across the country.
That's why Rural Schools Collaborative serves as a national connector between philanthropy and rural communities.
Since inception in 2015, RSC has built a network of trusted rural-serving organizations, connecting more than $2 million back to the rural education field. As part of our Theory of Change, we are on track to pass through at least $2 million more by 2028.
Rural schools anchor their communities and local economies, even as they navigate geographic isolation, limited funding, staffing shortages, and gaps in specialized services. But rural places already maximize limited resources to achieve outsized impact; Despite being underrepresented in funding, rural is rich in innovation.
Local > Regional > National
Resourcing the Field: Since RSC's inception in 2015, we have built a network of trusted rural-serving organizations, connecting more than $2 million out to the rural education field.
As part of our Theory of Change, we are on track to pass through at least $2 million more by 2028.
Our collaborative network brings together rural leaders, educators, high education, nonprofits, researchers, and funders to align strategy and grow the field. These partners advance the rural teaching profession, place-based strategies, and school-community resources.
Since 2015, Rural Schools Collaborative has connected more than $650,000 for planning grants and challenge grants to support rural teacher development. Learn more about our current projects here.
Building on a decade of momentum, in 2025, we launched the national Rural Teacher Corps Community of Learners. This brings together 20+ regional rural teacher initiatives from across the country. These partners support more than 500 rural educators entering the field each year.
History: Rural Teacher Corps Grant & Partners
The Catalyst Grants Initiative (2021-2024) provided $25,000 in planning grants in annual cohorts.
2023-2024 marked the final year of the Catalyst Fund Initiative, with planning grants being awarded to:
2022 marked the second year of the Catalyst Fund Initiative, with planning grants being awarded to:
- Eastern Oregon University
- University of Mary
- Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque
- University of Indianapolis
2021 was the first year of the Catalyst Fund Initiative, with planning grants being awarded to:
- Morehead State University
- University of Wisconsin--Platteville
- University of North Dakota
- University of Wyoming
RSC also collaborated with Illinois' Grand Victoria Foundation in successfully completing a $100,000 matching grant program to support:
- Monmouth College's TARTANS
- Western Illinois University's Great River Teacher Corps
- Quincy University's Rural Teacher Corps
- Eastern Illinois University's Rural Teacher Corps
- Southern Illinois University's Grow Your Own
Compeer's Fund for Rural America also awarded a $10,000 grant to the Rural Schools Collaborative to strengthen the capacity of four new rural teachers corps programs during the 2020-21 Covid-19 crisis. The goal of the Covid-19 Response Support Catalyst was to further the efforts of four emerging rural teacher corps programs in Compeer Financials' service regions. The following higher education institutions received support:
- University of Wisconsin-Platteville
- Monmouth College
- Quincy University
- Western Illinois University
This project was also supported by the Galesburg Community Foundation and the Southeastern Illinois Community Foundation, with historical historical planning grants to:
- The University of West Alabama for its Black Belt Teacher Corps
- Eastern Illinois University for its EIU Rural Teacher Corps
- Monmouth College for its TARTANS program
- Western Illinois University for its Great River Teacher Corps
- Dakota Wesleyan University for the Rural Teacher Corps Summit
Rural Schools Collaborative's partners with regional and national philanthropy to provide direct grants to rural classroom teachers through our Grants in Place program.
Since its inception in 2015, the Grants in Place program has given more than $700,000 to support over 200 teacher-led Place-Based Education projects within our Regional Hub Network. Covering all subjects and ages, these place-based efforts increase student engagement, elevate teacher agency and promote rural school and community connections.
Rural Schools Collaborative is a proud partner of the national GRAD Partnership for Student Success, led by Johns Hopkins University.
Since the project launch in 2022, Rural Schools Collaborative has connected over $1 million across the country to support 50+ rural schools and their communities strengthen Student Success.
By focusing on relationships, actionable data, and evidence-based practices, student success systems help educators and communities build a sense of belonging and school connection among students.
GRAD Partnerships' collective results include 28% reduction in chronic absenteeism, and a 32% reduction in average course failure rate over 2 years.
Local Rural Philanthropy Strategies
For those focused on the local and regional scale, purposeful school-centered philanthropy is key to economic development for rural America. School foundations, planned giving, and community foundations are all essential, interconnected elements of comprehensive philanthropy strategies:
Learn more about our work through the latest impact report.
Our Impact