Nearly six out of ten North Dakota schools are located in rural areas, and more than 75% of rural districts are smaller than the national median enrollment. High spending on transportation, the lowest instructional salaries in the nation, and inequity in funding to rural schools are causes for concern with policymakers. The state’s ranks 27th in the nation in need of rural education attention and improvement, however, largely because of decent educational outcomes – graduation rates are the second best in the country, and scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress are well above the national median.