USDA ANNOUNCES $16 MILLION IN DISTANCE LEARNING AND TELEMEDICINE LOANS AND GRANTS
WASHINGTON, September 10, 1998--As America goes back to school, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today announced $16 million in federal telecommunications loans and grants to improve education and health services for 2.5 million rural Americans. The Distance Learning initiative is part of the Clinton Administration's School Modernization program aimed at improving opportunities for rural school children by giving them access to the kind of education they need to be successful in a global economy.
"The telecommunications technology that brings the world to the most remote areas of the nation will now be more readily available for these students," Glickman said. "Education programs are enriched and become more fun for students, advanced medical services become more available, and the quality of life for all Americans improves, making us a stronger, more united nation."
More than 380,000 rural students and 2.1 million patients of clinics or hospitals serving rural areas will benefit from new technology under the Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) program of USDA, according to Under Secretary for Rural Development, Jill Long Thompson.
"The time and distance that have made rural America an attractive place to live has limited the educational opportunities for many of our youth," Long Thompson said. "The opportunities that the Information Superhighway provides makes the wonders of science as available to the students in a small, rural school in South Dakota as it does for those in large suburban classrooms."
The DLT program was changed in the 1996 Farm Bill to add a loan and loan/grant component to the older grant program. The loan program stretches the taxpayer dollar and helps build this network of education and health care with better use of resources.
Glickman said the goal of this program is to improve people's lives through enhanced education and health care services. "In doing so," he said, "we help boost overall economic development and opportunity by making rural communities even better places to live and do business."
The telemedicine program allows rural health care providers to link electronically with major medical centers and specialists. Many rural areas are served by only one or two general practice doctors. With telemedicine, a medical specialist located hundreds of miles away can use video and other monitoring devices to examine a patient living in a remote area.
Similarly, with distance learning, students in small rural schools can use interactive video equipment to participate in advanced classes not available in their local school.
Glickman said the DLT program "works hand-in-glove with the E-rate," a system of reductions of 90 to 20 percent in monthly telecommunications bills paid by schools, libraries and rural health care providers, thanks to Universal Service provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. While the DLT program funds end-user equipment purchases, E-rate discounts make monthly connection bills less expensive. E-rate and DLT loans and grants help create the on-ramps to the information superhighway for rural America.
Included in today's grants and loans, USDA has funded 252 projects in 43 states and two US territories totaling $62.5 million in grants and $3 million in loans. The funding is to be used by over 1000 schools and learning centers to provide increased educational opportunities to rural students and residents. Telemedicine services provide enhanced health care initiatives at over 725 hospital and rural health clinics.
List of 1998 funding recipients.
Media Contact: Roger Salazar, (202) 720-4623
roger.salazar@usda.gov
Public Contact: Claiborne Crain, (202) 720-1255
claiborne.crain@usda.gov
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