In June, 2020, the SSTAR Lab partnered with the Ascendium Education Group to undertake a year-long study on rural higher education. This project extends prior research on “education deserts” and uses new data to gain new insights into the challenges and opportunities facing rural communities in the U.S. Our team is currently merging and cleaning the Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs with the American Community Survey and other county-level data sources to identify college locations and their local communities. Through this process, we will identify places facing the greatest demographic and economic changes and gain insights about the colleges located in these changing places. Our report is tentatively scheduled to be released in the summer of 2021.