Many a cartoon was built on the country bumpkin coming to the big city to make his or her future. What many city slickers may not know is it was representative of a problem of the previous century. Country living has many a virtue, but they have struggled to give the same opportunities as their urban counterparts. Unless they are going into agriculture, most country kids graduate high school to few job opportunities in their local arenas.  Even the colleges they need to advance themselves are mostly located in metropolitan areas. So they leave. Some call this out-migration.

But that was a whole different millennium. A solution is starting to establish itself since the start of the 21st Century: online education. Rural students are earning degrees through virtual colleges. The solution even comes with a side advantage – graduates improve their recruiting desirability in the comfort of their home.

There innumerable studies proving online degrees give any graduates a leg up in the employment world. A number of corporate recruiters will testify online graduates have a matching skill set for a profitable worker, including good time management abilities, strong self-motivation skills, and technological know how.

A part of the problem is that a lot of rural areas just don’t have access to high speed Internet.  The essential communications infrastructure hasn’t moved beyond dial-up modems. Online education requires at least DSL, T-Line or similar to work effectively. Broadband also allows students to hookup from anywhere within district limits, whether it’s home, the library or a laundromat. Going broadband also allows students real-time communications with their teachers and fellow classmates. If that isn’t enough, many companies who need personnel in these areas want personnel who can stay in their district, but report through telecommuting.

Another factor making online education a natural fit for rural America is cost. Recent studies show virtual schools cost about 40% less than their brick-and-mortar counterparts, even though the price of advanced education is still considerable. This is particularly critical for rural areas, which tend to be economically depressed.

That’s where another advantage of online colleges could come to play. Many rural students can work and then go to school after hours. They can also talk to the schools to see if they can get financial aid packages that could include grants, possible scholarships and even, thanks to Obama’s latest educational initiatives, tax credits.

That leaves only one last obstacle. Many new applicants, especially rural ones, may not have the right tools for online education. They are not accustomed to communicating with fellow students and professors they haven’t studied with face to face.  That problem should be temporary. Social networks such as Facebook have become a fact of life. Further, millions of children are already taking either fully online or blended online/in person courses.

So it appears that your college degrees online is rapidly becoming a real alternative for your college degree. It makes eventually going to the big city for a online bachelors a much easier option.