Colorado Center for Rural Education Joins RSC Regional Hub Network
Rural Schools Collaborative is Proud to Announce New Colorado Hub!
Photo courtesy of University of Northern Colorado.
Colorado, like many rural states, is experiencing a significant shortage of rural teachers. The Colorado Center for Rural Education (CCRE), housed at the University of Northern Colorado, was created to help fill that void and ensure that all of Colorado’s rural classrooms are staffed with “qualified individuals to serve as classroom educators, school leaders, and/or special service providers within their school districts.” Now, in 2025, the Colorado Center for Rural Education joins 25 nationwide leaders in supporting rural education by joining the Rural Schools Collaborative Regional Hub Network.
The Colorado Center for Rural Education, led by Dr. Robert Fulton, partners with higher education institutions and alternative educator preparation programs throughout Colorado to recruit, prepare, place, and support educators for rural communities. CCRE lends support by providing stipends to both pre-service and in-service teachers, which has been shown to significantly increase placement and retention rates in rural classrooms.
Dr. Fulton hopes that by entering into RSC’s network, the CCRE can tap into solutions and innovations from rural leaders who face similar challenges. Dr. Fulton notes that, “Colorado is at the nexus of a national shortage of teachers. The better Colorado understands regional solutions from around the country, the better we can address our challenges.” The Colorado Center for Rural Education’s unique role within the state offers plenty of opportunities for addressing those challenges; CCRE primarily focuses on stipends to rural educators, supported by the state legislature and Colorado Department of Higher Education.
“The CCRE supports the needs of rural educators in Colorado by expanding educator pathway programs; identifying and supporting rural teaching scholars; facilitating rural teacher leaders programs; developing professional networks for rural educators; and cultivating rural education advocacy, scholarship, and grant writing,” describes Dr. Fulton. With roots in advocacy, professional development, network-building, and supporting teachers, CCRE is a natural fit for RSC’s Regional Hub Network. “I love working with broad coalitions of thought leaders and world-changers to help solve challenges that our rural communities face,” adds Dr. Fulton.
CCRE offers five different stipends, each designed to support educators at different levels or stages of their teaching careers. The five stipends are:
In addition to these five stipends, a core CCRE program is the Colorado Rural Teaching Fellowship. This fellowship provides a $10,000 award to selected teaching candidates, who during their final year of a teacher preparation program complete a year-long clinical experience in a rural school, and commit to teaching in a rural school for the first two years after completion. Cumulatively, the CCRE has given out over $5 million in stipends directly to rural educators, creating a transformative impact in nearly all rural Colorado Districts. Results of research into the effectiveness of these stipends show a higher retention rate among awardees, both in the short and medium term.
In building the stipend program and placing teachers in every corner of Colorado, the CCRE has established itself as a leader in building authentic partnerships across the education ecosystem. “I am happy to have built relationships with wonderful people who are making a difference in the lives of our rural children and families throughout Colorado,” said Dr. Fulton “This has been the most gratifying work of my career.”
Rural Schools Collaborative is thrilled to welcome Dr. Fulton and the Colorado Center for Rural Education into the hub network, and to work collaboratively on solutions to address the shortage of rural teachers.