Recent media reporting and research suggest that regional comprehensive universities (RCUs) and other postsecondary institutions may play an integral role in the welfare of rural regions, yet empirical research on the regional service of rural postsecondary institutions is limited. The purpose of this study was to examine how a single RCU serves…

Despite the significant proportions of rural Americans, schools, and public school students situated in the geographic peripheries of an increasingly urbanizing country, rural education in the United States has consistently occupied both scholarly and policy peripheries. This is to the detriment of rural America, especially to the extent that…

Despite the fact that rural education has always been one of the most important means of rural development, it has been ignored in many developing countries, with the result that rural development has not achieved great success. The problems of education in rural areas are not only related to the amount the country spends on education or to the…

This article is essentially written as two linked parts. The first part considers how space, spatiality and history can contribute to understanding and "doing something about" the sustainability of rural communities. This is done by extensive reference to Soja's (1989 & 1996) space and spatial theorising and selective perspectives of…

Training has increasingly turned into an important NGO tool for rural development in Asia and Africa. Such a use has made it essential to assess the impact of these training sessions. Again a good portion of these sessions are offered through cascades. There has been skepticism on the effectiveness of this mechanism. In response to the above need…

Despite all the efforts deployed by the countries of the world and the vigorous mobilization of the international community, rural people are lagging far behind in education and are particularly hard hit by poverty and hunger. In developing countries, the slow progress towards universal education is largely due to the sluggish growth of school…

A native Appalachian describes how his home in southwestern Virginia (Wythe County) seemed to him as a boy and how he feels it has changed today after an absence of 20 years. (Author/NEC)

The Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI), supported by the Ford Foundation, sought to energize distressed rural communities and the local colleges that serve them. Through a structured process of guided intervention, 24 colleges and their communities learned how to build new partnerships, adapt new ideas to local needs, and implement…

Presents an annotated bibliography of 27 current ERIC documents focusing on rural community colleges. Covers student programs, community programs, access to education, and tribal colleges. Indicates that most ERIC documents listed in the bibliography can be viewed on microfiche at libraries worldwide. (MAB)

The United States government has no true national rural policy toward education and rural community development. The need exists for the federal government to assume a different role in these areas from what it has traditionally played. In the past the federal education enterprise has failed to relate the design, purpose, or implementation of its…

Over 70 percent of the world's poor live in rural areas, and most of these people are illiterate and undernourished. This paper calls for the international donor community and developing nations to combine for an all-out assault on rural poverty, and presents a proposal for education for sustainable rural development. Education for rural…

In October 1999, the Regional Australia Summit was held in Canberra to allow people from regional, rural, and remote areas to contribute their perspectives on the challenges facing rural Australia. The Summit aimed to develop a national appreciation of those challenges, gather ideas on meeting the challenges, establish goals, and identify roles…

This report describes an educational partnership between South Dakota State University and Capital University Center, Inc. (CUC), (Pierre, South Dakota). CUC is a nonprofit organization founded in 1982 to provide access to higher education for residents of rural central South Dakota. CUC contracts with South Dakota State University for educational…

Describes research undertaken to improve measures of rural job skills, identify human capital initiatives supportive of rural development, and assess rural access to education and job training. Major themes include complexity of weaknesses and strengths in rural skills development systems, advantages of rural schools, and mutual reinforcement of…

Discusses the seriousness of the digital divide-the discrepancy between technology-literate and -illiterate people-in rural areas in the United States. Reports that rural young, minority, and single-parent households lag behind the national average in both personal computer ownership and Internet access. Offers suggestions for ways rural community…