College attainment is a compelling topic for me. Both of my parents had educations that stopped at the 8th grade (although my mother got a GED as an adult), and none of my siblings graduated from college. So I'm keenly aware of the value of a college degree, and the importance of the opportunity to earn a degree. But where opportunity resides, and how that has shifted over time, are both important topics worthy of exploration and discussion. I suppose it's no secret that urban areas in the US have more college educated people than rural areas do. But has it always been that way? Yes. And no. Yes, it's always been that way because on average, rural areas have always had lower college degree attainment rates that urban areas. No, it's not always been as bad as it is now. As educational attainment in the US increased ( see this visualization , which was so astonishing to me that I had to check the numbers; I've updated it here ) most of that increase has accrued i