This study sought to identify components of the institutional transformation of Southwest Texas Junior College from its participation in the Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI) The RCCI was centered on increasing access to educational opportunities and regional economic development in four historically poor regions of the United States. It was felt that this two-pronged approach to increase access and economic development would ameliorate poverty and provide opportunity. The pilot colleges were chosen from Appalachia, Delta South, Northern Plains (Tribal colleges), and the Southwest. Southwest Texas Junior College in the southwest border region of Texas and Mexico was chosen in 1994 as one of nine pilot college participants in the Ford Foundation project. Documentation of the college's characteristics were conducted during the 1994 and 1995 preliminary visits by Stephen G. Katsinas at the request of the Ford Foundation to find suitable rural community colleges in historically distressed areas of the United States to be invited to participate in RCCI. Follow-up site visits were conducted by Christopher Thomas in 2002, 2004, and 2005. Data was collected during all site visits by open-ended questionnaires, interviews, content analysis of documents, and observation. Extended site visits and living in the college's residence halls increased the …

This study identified and described the experiences of twelve African American men that influenced the choice to participate in postsecondary education. This qualitative study used a phenomenology framework to determine 1) the formation of predisposition in the college choice process, 2) the messages received about college from influential people, and 3) perception and interpretation of the importance of a college degree. The overall theme arising from the data is that the college choice process was complicated and inconsistent; however, ten of the twelve participants completed some type of postsecondary training. Deficient messages about postsecondary education manifested as low parental support for college attendance, low academic expectations, withholding of important information from school officials and little or no exposure to postsecondary institution campuses or students. Influential people for the participants ranged from parents to themselves, and from a combination of characteristics from different people, to peers, to no one. The informants did not consistently identify their role model as the one who influenced them to attend college. The perception of the value of a college degree varied among the participants. Some described the degree as a requirement for success; others felt that strengthening family and achieving financial independence was more important.