The Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI) provides funds and technical assistance to targeted community colleges in an effort to improve educational access and foster economic development in distressed rural areas of the United States. This project brief describes RCCI's attempts to increase access by implementing an approach more holistic than the traditional open-door tactic. Nine RCCI pilot colleges participated in the national demonstration program, which attempted to remove access barriers from postsecondary education. For three years, the colleges were the subjects of field observations, site visits, interviews, focus group discussions, and other quantitative and qualitative data collection activities. Findings revealed that though several different factors influenced which strategies should be implemented, four general approaches appeared to be effective among the nine RCCI pilot colleges: partnerships for transition, alternative delivery systems, academic support services, and holistic approaches to access. However, several areas still need to be addressed: institutional culture, financial resources, welfare reform, gender issues, and racial dynamics. To improve access, emphasis must be placed on the importance of local cultural context, as well as faculty development and student personal growth programs. Contains 14 references and resources. (YKH)