A University, a Rural Town and Their Fight to Survive Trump’s War on Higher Education

There are nearly 500 regional public universities across the U.S. , serving about 5 million students.

They play a vital role in lifting up struggling individuals and helping struggling communities.

At SIU , as at other regional universities, many research projects focus on overlooked issues in their backyards.

SIU and Carbondale , Illinois , has been a cultural mecca and economic engine in the region.

The university has been the largest employer in the area, but the student population is now half the size it was in the 1990s .

In 2021 , SIU Chancellor Austin Lane rolled out Imagine 2030 — an ambitious blueprint for rebuilding SIU .

It calls for doubling down on research, expanding student success programs.

SIU lost nearly 9,000 students in the decade that followed.

Concerns surfaced that SIU was enrolling underprepared Black students from inner-city Chicago .

The university wanted to reshape its image, positioning itself as a world-class research institution.