Innovations associated with gas and oil drilling technology, including new hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling techniques, have recently led to dramatic boomtown development in many rural areas that have endured extended periods of economic decline. The Marcellus Shale play, one of the world's largest gas-bearing shale formations, lies…

The founding of the Australian system of higher education closely parallels the creation of public postsecondary education in the United States during the nineteenth century. Their subsequent histories reflect a growing recognition of postsecondary education's capacity to shape the economic prospects not only of individuals, but of entire nations.…