Internet connectivity expands educational opportunities in rural communities: one example

Super-fast Internet connections are bridging the gap between rural and urban education. In Redwood Falls, Minn., 19-year-old father Brett Welsh (left) attends college at an Internet learning center inside a former grocery store, the Minnesota Post reports. While some communities still wait for connectivity and opportunity, "Redwood Falls has reached across a divide that defines the new line between poverty and prosperity in rural Minnesota."

"A local bank, the city and Jackpot Junction kicked in $25,000 each" for development of the learning center, local leader Harry Davis told reporter Sharon Schmickle. "Local residents and businesses donated everything from furniture for the lobby to art for the walls."

Through the learning center, Redwood Falls is able "to bring higher education closer to home for the single parents, displaced workers and others who can't or don't want to break small-town ties," Schmickle writes. It also helps the city recruit and maintain dependable employers. "The first thing companies would ask is, 'Where are your higher education opportunities?'," Julie Rath of the Redwood Area Development Corporation told Schmickle. (Read more)