Elexiana Oliva, an aspiring police detective at Muscatine Community College, represents many rural students facing barriers to pursuing higher education. As institutions shut down and programs decline, approximately 13 million adults in the U.S. live too far from a four-year university. Iowa's consideration of allowing community colleges to confer bachelor's degrees aims to remedy this education gap, providing affordability and accessibility for low- to medium-income residents and addressing workforce shortages in rural areas.
"It's not our fault that we grew up in a place where there's not a lot of big colleges and big universities," Oliva said.
"It would be a big game-changer," Oliva said, "especially for those who have a low income or a medium income and want to go and further our education."
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