Mapping Effective Mentorship for Rural Community College Students
Supporting rural community college students through adaptive, evidence-based mentorship strategies.
Supported by the Ascendium Education Group, CCRI has completed a nationwide, three-stage study of mentorship at rural-serving community colleges, analyzing 444 institutional websites, interviewing students and practitioners across multiple community colleges, and surveying almost 100 students nationally. Across four Data Notes, this research documents the landscape of mentoring opportunities across rural-serving community colleges’ websites, critical mentorship strategies, a rural-responsive mentorship model centered on relational trust and holistic support, and specific student-identified mentorship supports that impact academic and career success. By synthesizing institutional data with lived experiences, these findings provide practitioners with mentorship strategies that can be adapted to their rural contexts by building on existing community strengths while addressing the structural barriers that limit students’ access and success.
Learn more about the findings of our research in the data notes below.
Data Note 4: Rural community college students’ perspectives on mentorship and academic and career outcomes
March 2026
This data note examines how rural community college students perceive the impact of mentorship on their academic and career success. By shifting the focus from institutional metrics to student-reported experiences, the research identifies which types of support students value most and highlights critical gaps in current college mentorship programs.
Data Note 3: An Adaptive Rural-Responsive Mentorship Model: Insights from Students, Practitioners, and College Leaders
December 2025
Data Note 3 explores a rural-responsive mentorship model, detailing how community colleges leverage local strengths—like relational trust and holistic care—to overcome resource constraints and foster student belonging.
Data Note 2: Critical Mentorship Strategies for Supporting Rural Community College Students
December 2024
This data note analyzes mentorship programs at rural serving community colleges, identifying key practices: building empowering spaces and fostering cultural identity and community engagement. It offers reflection questions and invites practitioners to share their experiences.
Data Note 1: Landscape of Mentorship Programs at Rural Serving Community Colleges
December 2023
The first in a series on mentorship programs at rural serving 2-year institutions nationwide, this data note features findings from the initial stage of a three-stage multisite study of rural serving mentorship programs with an analysis of them as depicted on their institutional websites.