USDA OPENS SEASON FOR DISTANCE LEARNING/TELEMEDICINE LOAN AND GRANT APPLICATIONS
WASHINGTON, Jan. 29, 1998 -- Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today announced that the Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Loan and Grant program is open for applications from schools, health care providers, and other rural nonprofit organizations. The application period will close June 1, 1998.
When Vice President Gore announced the 1997 DLT awards, he stated "This country cannot afford a digital divide between those who have access to the benefits of the Information Superhighway, and those who do not." The use of loans, grants, and combinations of the two makes this program more viable for any community that has a vision of what this technology can do to help it succeed in the 21st Century.
"The DLT program enables citizens of the most isolated community to have access to the same education and specialized medical technology, as the citizens in the urban and suburban cities," Glickman said. "This is an investment that will pay dividends in better educated students who will be better prepared to meet the challenges of the millennium."
Glickman said this year's program will have $150 million in loan funds to help stretch the $12.5 million in grants for use in removing the barriers of time and distance from rural schools and rural medical care.
"Our goal is to improve the nation's educational and health care services," stated Under Secretary for Rural Development, Jill Long Thompson. "By helping these basic functions, the Federal Government is helping to boost overall economic development and opportunity by making rural communities even better places to live, raise families and to do business."
Since 1993, the DLT program has funded 192 projects in 41 states and one US territory totaling $52 million. These projects serve 850 schools and learning centers and 600 hospitals and rural health clinics. The DLT program works as seed money and leverages almost four times its investment from other private and public sources. Additional information on the DLT program can be found on the RUS Web site or by writing RUS/USDA, STOP 1590, Rm. 4056, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-1590.
Contacts:
Jim Brownlee (202) 720-2091
Claiborne Crain (202) 720-1255