'Transformational opportunity': Snow College gets $3M federal grant to lead Utah's rural AI future

EPHRAIM — Most artificial intelligence conversations in Utah center around Silicon Slopes or the greater Wasatch Front, often with very little attention given to the state's rural reaches.

But Snow College is making a push to change that with the help of a $3 million federal grant, one of the largest investments in the school's recent history.

The grant will go toward building a five-year AI initiative for Snow College students and rural communities throughout the state.

Specifically, the funds will establish the Snow College Center for Rural AI Adoption and Integration.

"This is a transformational opportunity for Snow College and rural Utah," Snow College Provost Michael Austin said in a statement. "AI is changing how we learn, work, and live, and higher education has an important responsibility to help students understand how to use these tools thoughtfully, responsibly, and effectively. This investment gives Snow the resources to do that while making sure rural communities are part of the conversation and prepared for what comes next."

While the idea for the grant is to expand AI access across the state, it will start at Snow College by providing enterprise-level AI access to students, faculty and staff, "helping faculty and students explore the responsible and effective use of AI, integrating AI literacy throughout the Snow College experience," according to an announcement from the college.

With campuses in Ephraim, Richfield and Nephi, the grant will allow Snow College to expand AI education throughout its statewide locations, as well as through its rural concurrent enrollment network.

The announcement said the initiative is expected to bring AI education to hundreds of rural high school students and educators annually.

"For nearly 140 years, Snow College has created opportunities for students and strengthened rural communities," Austin said in a statement. "This grant gives us an extraordinary opportunity to continue that work in a new way. Students from small towns deserve big opportunities, and Snow College is ready to help lead what comes next."

The $3 million federal grant is just the latest of a handful of AI investments targeted at engaging the entire Beehive State, with Gov. Spencer Cox in August launching a $5 million competitive grant program, dubbed the Utah AI Moonshot Program, to fund artificial intelligence research that improves the lives of Utahns.

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