A new community center. Youth entrepreneurial classes. A county-wide geocaching game. These are just a few of the projects Rural Fellows have completed during their summer-long immersive internships. Since 2013 the Rural Fellowship program has connected college students with rural Nebraska communities as part of a collaborative service-learning experience.

Rural Fellows spend their summers living in Nebraska towns, working on locally-designed projects that support local business, and make progress toward strategic and specific goals to help communities thrive.

Rural Prosperity Nebraska selects communities through an application and interview process. In 2020, Nebraska communities that hosted Rural Fellows saw an average economic impact of $15,000. As part of the application process, communities must identify (1) projects the Fellows can work on, (2) support staff to manage the projects and Fellows, and (3) funding for the 10-week period (approximately $12,000—$5,000 per student and $2,000 for housing).