Educational Opportunities Spread with Broadband Expansion in Rural America

As a former teacher, education and its long-reaching benefits are dear to my heart. While joining Deputy Under Secretary Donald “DJ” LaVoy at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia (KY) to announce over $55.3 million in ReConnect funding, I thought of the impact this funding would have on the education of our fellow Kentuckians. While it is true that rural communities stand to benefit from broadband expansion in a number of ways, its ability to help close the very real digital divide between rural and urban America is a shining promise to the future for all Americans.

Online or distance education at accredited higher learning institutions is gaining ground across the country as well, and I can’t help but think a large part of that growth is rural students who can get degrees and certifications without leaving the communities where they’ve been raised. But they need true broadband to take advantage of those education opportunities. Nearly one quarter of the rural population across the country still lacks access to broadband service, but thanks to the four latest ReConnect projects in Kentucky, we are driving that number down in rural Kentucky. As broadband spreads in rural communities, so too does education, opportunity and prosperity, and when rural America prospers, so too does the rest of America.

[Hilda Legg, Kentucky State Director, USDA Rural Development]