What Rural Nebraska Needs from Higher Education: A Conversation with Dr. Leah Barrett

How can a community college serve students who cannot always come to campus? Dr. Leah Barrett, president of Northeast Community College, and former president of the NSWERS Executive Council, joins NSWERS Executive Director Matt Hastings to discuss the many paths students take through higher education and into work in rural Nebraska. Barrett shares examples of apprenticeships, employer partnerships, and dual enrollment, and explains how Northeast Community College uses data to strengthen student support. They also discuss how connected education and workforce information can help leaders see whether their investments are making a difference for students and communities.

This episode was recorded in the spring of 2025.

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[00:00:02] Matt Hastings: Welcome to the NSWERS Podcast, a series exploring the intersection of education, workforce, and the power of data to drive better decisions for Nebraska's future. I'm your host, Matt Hastings, Executive Director of NSWERS. And each episode we sit down with leaders and change makers across our state to talk about the ways education and work are evolving, and how data and information can help us better prepare, support, and connect Nebraska's talent pipeline. Today I'm joined by Dr. Leah Barrett, president of Northeast Community College and president of the NSWERS Executive Council.

Dr. Barrett brings an invaluable perspective to our conversation, working at the intersection of rural higher education, statewide information systems, executive level collaboration, and statewide partnerships. We'll explore how colleges can lead innovation in workforce alignment and how data and information can elevate those efforts statewide. So let's get started. All right, Dr. Barrett, thank you very much for joining us today. We know you're very busy. We appreciate your time. Thank you.

[00:01:11] Dr. Leah Barrett: Well, it's great to be here, Matt. Thanks for having me.

[00:01:13] Matt Hastings: Yes. You've spent your career helping students succeed, and now you lead one of Nebraska's community colleges at Northeast. So what do you love most about working in that space?

[00:01:28] Dr. Leah Barrett: How much time do I have? And I mean that sincerely. Working in community colleges, I've worked in higher ed for more than 30 years and in the community college space for almost 7. I wish I would have come here years ago because the diversity of our learners is what makes it so special, so unique, and so fulfilling. When we think about our students and especially in Northeast Nebraska, we have our dual enrollment students. We have English language learners. We have traditional age students that we are so fortunate at Northeast Community College that get the opportunity to have what many people call a traditional college experience.

We have students that are still living at home or living on their farms, coming to school every day. And then we have our modern learners, those individuals that are working to change their career or get lifted up or promoted in their position. And so when we look at our 13,500 students that we serve each year, each of them comes with a different story, a different expectation, and different education and workforce goals.

[00:02:49] Matt Hastings: Yeah. And you have kind of a unique portion of the state where you have, it's not necessarily urban, but you have some bigger communities in your area and you have also very rural areas. You work with the reservations, the tribal institutions as well. So it's a very diverse makeup.

[00:03:12] Dr. Leah Barrett: We are so fortunate in Northeast Nebraska, I'm not sure people realize it. With 4 institutions of higher education in our 20 county service area. So we're partners at Wayne State College—I don't want to confuse us with our Michigan friends. And we have Little Priest Tribal College and Nebraska Indian Community College and Northeast. And we butt up right against the special community that we refer to as Sioux Land, which does incorporate communities in South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska. They also have two or three institutions of higher education right there, 4 institutions, gosh, I better not forget someone, in that Sioux Land area.

And so the opportunities are significant. And one of our roles at Northeast Community College is to improve the college going culture. And so it's not just about enrolling students at Northeast. It's helping students to navigate to higher education. And so we believe that a huge part of our role with younger people, starting in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade, all the way through our high school students that work with us with dual enrollment is to help increase the college-going culture. They can have an experience at Northeast that opens their eyes that they want to be a doctor or an architect or a television broadcaster, whatever it might be.

How do we find the best place for them to continue that higher education?

[00:04:41] Matt Hastings: Sure. So a couple other questions. What drew you to Northeast and how has leading a rural institution in many ways shaped your view of education's role for economic development in Nebraska.

[00:05:00] Dr. Leah Barrett: Absolutely. I had the opportunity, I applied for the job at Northeast Community College back in 2019. And the reason that I applied for the position was because of the diversity of its learners and the location. I grew up in the state of Wyoming, so I would call the community I grew up in remote or frontier, not rural. It really was very, very remote. But I love the rural environment. I love the opportunity to recognize and work with students that there's a special feeling around rural America that we believe so much in our small communities and celebrate those small communities.

While having an opportunity to be connected with some larger communities in the Siouxland area, as well as our communities of Lincoln and Omaha, just being two hours away. So you were rural but not remote, a little different than some places, other parts of the state. And so I was drawn to that and I was drawn to the exceptional experiences the students at Northeast were having. The outcomes of our students at Northeast for several years, many, many years, have been outstanding.

When we look at the cohort of students that we compare ourselves to, so that's about 4,500 of our students that are full-time students, more traditional age, they're going to school full-time. When we look at that cohort of students, Northeast for years has had higher than expected retention rates and graduation rates. And so when I had the opportunity to apply, I knew I'd be joining an exceptional institution that had a lot of opportunity. As we think about, especially pre-COVID, people felt like rural America was going to be a thing of the past.

I think COVID, that experience helped remind us how special our rural communities are and how they should be lifted up. And so when we talk about economic development and that intersection with our rural communities, we know that higher education makes a difference and can lift up those communities. So we have a responsibility as an institution to connect with those communities and we need to look at it in a truly non-traditional way. We cannot expect all of our students to come to us. Many of them have responsibilities in family businesses like their farms, like small businesses on their main streets.

And so how do we bring higher education to them? And so we really are focused right now on creating more individual specialized educational experiences for students that meet the needs of both adult learners and traditional age students with things like apprenticeships. Those learn and earn experiences where they're able to stay in their communities and contribute to their communities while increasing their content knowledge around something like information technology, early childhood development, diesel technology.

And whatever else our employers and our learners bring to us, we want to explore because we feel so committed to the economic vitality of our rural communities.

[00:08:42] Matt Hastings: Right, yeah. Well, you touched on some of this, I think, in your comments right there, but community colleges are often described as maybe the most agile part of our education system or the traditional education system anyway. So you're hopefully very, you can very quickly respond to workforce needs. Can you share an example of that agility at Northeast Community College?

[00:09:07] Dr. Leah Barrett: Well, I think a couple examples. One, I'm going to keep with that apprenticeship discussion, especially in the area of information technology. I think that many of our small hospitals and banks are always looking for people that they can grow and develop. We'll use information technology as a career field that often has, not often, it does have pretty high salaries. And so our small communities and the economic situation they have may not always be able to pay at the same level as an Omaha or Lincoln. And so what we found is it's the grow your own mentality.

And if they identify talent, if a young person has a summer job or even an internship working for a hospital or a business in information technology, how do you say, how do you create that relationship between the business, the college, and the student? so that they can start their career maybe a bit early, but continue to develop with that on the job experience as well as taking classes. So that has been our one area of really rethinking how you complete a degree and how you get on that pathway to a career is knowing that our young people want to stay in our communities. I think we have other fun examples.

We work a lot with our agriculture co-ops and they oftentimes buy very expensive equipment like fertilizer application systems and things like that. And we created a really neat training program where we've had several people throughout our region go through learning how to use those applicators, not by practicing on the equipment themselves, but by using simulators. Oh yes, and I'm terrible. No one would ever hire me. People love me to get on those applicators and drive. Make fun of me.

However, it has been an incredible tool so that you're able to purchase, we're able to purchase those simulators, teach the students in that environment that is not going to cause damage to a piece of equipment, help them learn, help them be able to be more versatile in their communities, in the co-ops where they work and on their farms. So that's a couple examples.

[00:11:37] Matt Hastings: Yeah, that's fantastic. So what are you hearing from employers in your region about, and how is that ultimately influencing the partnerships that you develop there?

[00:11:50] Dr. Leah Barrett: One of the important pieces of community colleges is our connection with our employers. And we do that in a few ways. One way is through advisory boards where we have groups of employers that work with us and give us feedback. Are our students prepared to be successful in their work environment? And if they're not, what are they missing? And so we use those advisory boards. We also do surveys of our employers every year, and the satisfaction of our employers is quite high with our students. So we feel good about that.

And we learn from them, though, each semester what is the new technology that we need to make sure that our students are prepared for. And it might not be a specific piece of equipment, It's a skill. How do we make sure that our students are recognizing the role of data, for example, in managing a farm? How do you use the data that's in your combine, that's in your planter? And how does that intersect when you're planting compared to when you're harvesting? Where you plant each seed, how deep you plant each seed, how much irrigation goes with each plant that you have in your rows. It is all based on data.

And so how do we teach our students in the classroom how to not always get the data out? We have plenty of companies that will help us get the data out. What does the data mean and making meaning out of that data? kind of similar to what we talk about with NSWERS. But our employers are helping us to be proactive with our students so that they have those skills and are ready to be effective, be it on their farm, be it out of co-op, be it in a manufacturing company. And so we really rely on them to give us feedback and We can't wait around for the feedback. We have to be very proactive in reaching out to them. So we do that every year.

We rely on those advisory boards and we really do ask many of our faculty and administrators to be involved in community organizations so that we are accessible to people to have those conversations, be it our chambers of commerce throughout our 20 county service area. Going to different activities and events and then being a part and visible in the community so that our employers see us as available and willing to listen and to be open and not just sitting out in our offices waiting for them to come to us.

[00:14:28] Matt Hastings: Yeah, that's key, I think. You talked a little bit about how you're equipping students to utilize data in their own jobs and in their education. How does Northeast use data to inform the decisions that you make at the college?

[00:14:48] Dr. Leah Barrett: Gosh, we use data every day. And it's fun to talk to our faculty and our staff about how they're using data. Faculty will often, they do an annual program review of their academic programs where they are analyzing, they're collecting data. They decide sequencing and scheduling of classes, they look at the student learning outcomes data to ensure that students are learning. Those are some pretty obvious examples. I'm going to share an example that's a bit more fun that I would say. So in [2021], Northeast Community College got a special honor.

And we received a phone call from a philanthropist that said, I'd like to give you $15 million and you can do with it whatever you want. And her name is MacKenzie Scott. Then it was a pretty awesome experience. And the only question I asked when the call was made was how we could use it. The answer was: You can do with it whatever you want. And so right, very few of us in the world ever get that kind of phone call. And so for me, after the shock and awe of it all, it really was about how are we going to use this money to meet our statutory responsibilities and our mission driven work. And we did use data to make that decision.

It's not like we had 18 projects that we looked at. We looked at one area of our institution that we know the outcomes are outstanding because we look at the data every year and that's our TRIO programs. Our student success program helps students with limited incomes, students with disabilities and first-generation college students. They are given additional resources to help them succeed. And the TRIO numbers across the United States, the outcomes of those students are better than the general student body at every institution in the country that has the opportunity to receive that federal funding.

And so we said, could we use those endowment monies to reach more students? Our grant only serves about 125 students. How about we use those endowment dollars to invest in a program that we know that works? And so we've done that and we've been able to add staff to that program and resources to that program. So now we're serving more than 200 students that are at risk to complete. And those are students that are first generation, limited income or student with disabilities.

And it was, it is a data-driven decision that almost is a no-brainer for us because we know that the outcomes, the investment of those dollars makes such a difference in our students' lives. And We lift that information up as often as we can this year. Every year you have goals around the success rate of those students. And we've been able to knock it out of the park with the work that we're doing. And so we use those outcomes. How can we take those interventions that we do with those students and spread them out to more students and especially those students that come to us on a part-time basis?

And those interventions include work on financial literacy, talking at the beginning of that college career about how you pay for college and how you manage if you must take out a loan. How do you start thinking at the beginning of college how you're going to pay it off and ensuring that you are in a career pathway that's going to give you a good paying job? We talk about four-year institutions and the opportunities to transfer, and we take those students to four-year institutions to have an experience and to recognize that is a pathway as well as an associate's degree.

Also, what would a four-year degree look like for you and your career discipline that you're looking for? The other piece that we talk about with those students is really that academic advising piece and that connection between the classes you're taking in that career. How can we lift up those interventions that we have the data to show that they're successful with more than the students that are in that program? So I think that's an example for you of many people at the institution using that data to try to emulate those things and lift up those things more institution-wide than just within a small cohort of 200 students.

[00:20:07] Matt Hastings: Yeah, and that's, I mean, it's probably a textbook example that what you're providing there with investing those new resources into that program that is working and then be able to magnify that effect across your entire institution for more students. That's fantastic. Yeah.

[00:20:26] Dr. Leah Barrett: Pretty proud of it. And we just had commencement last week. And the number of students, they have special honor cords that they wear if they're part of TRIO. And so the number of those students that make the decision to walk across the stage is phenomenal. For them, first generation college students, no one in their family has ever walked across the stage to get a college degree. And so the experience and then bringing the whole family into that is, gosh, that's why we do what we do.

[00:20:58] Matt Hastings: Yeah, it's awesome. Take a picture of the American dream.

[00:21:00] Dr. Leah Barrett: Yeah, absolutely it is. Absolutely it is.

[00:21:03] Matt Hastings: It's cool. So sort of related to the questions I guess that we just talked about, but what kinds of outcomes matter most to you as the college president?

[00:21:15] Dr. Leah Barrett: And I have talked a little bit about it. Lifting up the state of Nebraska is what we're about. Our statutory responsibility is quite broad. It includes workforce development and it has since the statute was written in the 70s. It talks about economic development and regional vitality and the role of the community college in that space, as well as career and technical education and transfer education. The outcomes are about watching our rural communities thrive. So I focus, we talk a lot about our retention rates. So our students that return from the first year to the second year. We talk about our graduation rates.

Those are so important to us. Making sure that we're giving students that experience where they're going to be successful. It is the creating a college going culture. That's why dual enrollment is so important. It's not about that those students are just going to come to Northeast Community College.

It's about giving students, and especially those that are first generation college students, new to the United States, those students that have limited income, that have never imagined college, for them to take a dual enrollment class, be it an English class, a building construction class, a welding class, a psychology class, and to be successful as a 17 or 18 year old student who college wasn't even in the cards. For them to choose to go to college, being at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, be it at Peru State, be it at Northeast, their next step to decide to go to college is what matters. And so those are the numbers that I want to watch.

There are other numbers I have to watch. I have to make sure that we're well funded. We have to make sure that our enrollment grows so that we can keep our doors open. I mean, literally and figuratively. That's not what we celebrate though. We celebrate the students walking across the stage. We love the stories of students that take a few dual enrollment classes and then go on to Wayne State and we watch them walk across the stage and be the student that is highlighted by the media because of their experience. Those are the things that we celebrate and get excited about more than anything.

[00:24:02] Matt Hastings: Yeah, that's great. Great. So at NSWERS, we're really beginning to make a shift from what we've described earlier as system building to system use. What excites you most about that next chapter of work?

[00:24:16] Dr. Leah Barrett: I mean, I could just repeat everything I said. I think it's going to help us so much understand how the interventions, I'll go back to the TRIO example. So we know so much about TRIO because it's been in the United States for 60 years and it has the data reporting that we're required to do as recipients has been collected across the United States for that time. And so we know those interventions are working. We don't need to create a bunch of new programs. We have that. Well, we also have new programs and new ideas that are introduced every day at the state level. How do we understand if that intervention is working.

And so it is going to again allow us to build the efficiency and the effectiveness to support the learning of our children or college students on their way to the workforce.

[00:25:09] Matt Hastings: Right, yep, I agree. If you look 5 or 10 years down the road, what do you think success looks like for Northeast? What does it look like for NSWERS and our statewide data discussions and what does it look like for Nebraska's talent pipeline?

[00:25:29] Dr. Leah Barrett: So I would tell you, this might be controversial, but when I'm in Norfolk as a community member, people will say, oh, weren't you so excited that Northeast is growing? It's not always about growth. You know, we want to be effective. We want to be quality and we want our employers to think we are the best educators they have. That's what's important. It's not about growth of Northeast. Growth of Northeast will come when there's growth in Nebraska. And so I believe there is an interest and a culture around growing Nebraska. We are a very special place, and I don't mean by millions. We aren't looking for millions of people.

We are looking for more people that believe in rural America and the specialness of working hard, of believing in what you're doing, of unexperienced that's special and not like anyone else's. That's what I think is neat and unique about Nebraska. So I believe success will be some growth in population of our state. I think success will be when our elected officials are using the data that is being shared by answers in the decisions they are making around education and building the workforce. I want them to quote the studies. I want them to request studies.

I want our elected officials to understand that we can make good decisions by using data, not just thinking this is a great idea. And so for me, I want them to quote our studies. I want them to create a proposal that they think is a really good idea and say, we are going to use NSWERS data to study it. We'll review it in five years and see if we're going to keep funding it. That's what we want to see. I want us to be perceived as having the best longitudinal database system in the country. I think we're on our way. And I think we can do that.

[00:28:14] Matt Hastings: It seems to, I agree with that 100% and it seems to me if all of those key decision makers walked into the discussions around a new initiative, a new proposal that are conceivably designed to solve some sort of problem, to also as part of those discussions be asking themselves the question and how will we know if this worked? and if you can't answer that question or you can't, you don't have a plan to be able to do that after the two, three, five year investment that you make, you're not setting yourself up to be able to effectively make a determination around ROI and whether you should scale up or not the particular program.

[00:28:56] Dr. Leah Barrett: Absolutely. And you did use the phrase ROI, so I'm going to go there for a minute. Return on investment in higher ed is just not about the money. And if you are going to make more on the other side than what you invest, because a huge part of the return on investment of higher education is about the vitality of your communities. And it's measured in so many ways. We know that an educated workforce Number one, they earn more money. So that means they do pay more taxes. I hate to say that, but that's true. They pay more taxes.

They're concerned with the bigger picture of their community, whether it be the size of West Point, Hartington, Norfolk, or Omaha. And we will help create the sustainability in our agriculture resources. We will help sustain the the positive attitude that we have about our great state when we can show the outcomes that our students are having with the experiences they are having in our educational systems.

[00:30:14] Matt Hastings: I agree. Is there anything else that you want to talk about that I didn't get a chance to ask you or specific thoughts, ideas? Anything you want to share?

[00:30:26] Dr. Leah Barrett: I guess I would share how proud I am to be a part of NSWERS. When I came here, the community college presidents were talking about, well, who's going to volunteer to be part of this group to create this longitudinal data system? And I'm like, okay, I'm the newest, I'll do it. And I volunteered five years ago. It would have been like maybe March of 2020. I said, pick me. And I've been with NSWERS ever since. And I am just so excited about where we are from the system building to the system use point. I'm the biggest cheerleader and I'm so excited about our future. And I'm just proud to be a part.

I love working with you, Matt, and your team, as well as my colleagues in the state college system, the university system, our K-12 partners, and the coordinating commission. We are creating something very special here that's going to help Nebraska and help our students.

[00:31:26] Matt Hastings: Yeah. Well, and we're so thankful to have your contribution for so many years. It's really shaping the work that we do and hopefully it's of great benefit to your institution and to the state of Nebraska.

[00:31:41] Dr. Leah Barrett: Absolutely. Absolutely.

[00:31:43] Matt Hastings: That's it for this episode of the NSWERS Podcast. Many thanks to my guest, Leah Barrett, for sharing her time, insights, and vision for a stronger education to workforce future here in Nebraska. At NSWERS, we believe that better data leads to better decisions, and better decisions create better outcomes for our students, our communities, and our state. If you'd like to learn more about our work, please visit us online at nswers.org. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time.