Mike Krause is the former Tennessee Higher Education Commission Executive Director and now a senior advisor for government affairs and economic development at the Bradley Arant Boult Cummings law firm. Krause served as the coordinator for all statewide higher education efforts relative to COVID-19, acting as the chief liaison between campuses and the Tennessee Department of Health and the Governor’s Unified Command Group. He is most known for his work as the founding Director of the Tennessee Promise, coordinating the launch of the nation’s first tuition-free college scholarship program and working closely with the legislature on an array of education and workforce issues. In this episode, we discuss many of the challenges of rural education, including access to a college education. Krause provides methods for making higher education more accessible. These include strategies for communicating how to complete FAFSA applications, enrollment goals, and creating programs that empower potential college applicants to explore various career trajectories. These programs include skill-based training, specialized training, or gaining acceptance to higher education for first-generation and low-income college students. In this episode, Krause discusses branding of education, services, product-based messaging, and clear expectations for students and secondary institutions seeking to send graduates on to college-level learning. Mike Krause’s Twitter https://twitter.com/mikekrauseTN Win Learning sponsors the Rural Education Education Association Podcast. Please visit their website at https://www.winlearning.com/nrea