Rappahannock Community College received the Gerald L. Baliles Rural Virginia Horseshoe Initiative Award from the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education to help close the educational attainment gap between the Rural Horseshoe region and the state at large.

Named for the 65th governor of Virginia, the award honors Baliles’s legacy of promoting educational accessibility. The primary goals of the program are to reduce the number of rural residents without a high school diploma and increase the number of rural residents with an associate’s degree, diploma or certificate.

“Rural Virginia needs a targeted investment to take care of its next generation so the entire commonwealth can prosper,” said Virginia Foundation for Community College Education board chairman Stewart Roberson.

Each of the 11 colleges that received this funding proposed unique strategies that align with the goals of the RVHI. Its programs will serve a diverse range of high school students and adults f...