Rural Schools Generate Funding By Enrolling Wealthy Foreign Students

A Reuters (3/9, Simon, Subscription Publication) article profiles the Grant-Deuel School in Revillo, South Dakota, which has seen its enrollment drop to around eight students. The piece notes that the district, like several other rural districts across the country, has begun enrolling students from wealthy families in foreign countries, noting that such students can generate up to $30,000 per year in tuition. Foreign students benefit by increasing their chances of attending US colleges. Meanwhile, in a separate article, Reuters (3/9, Simon) reports that some cash-strapped schools are attempting to increase their enrollment-and therefore their revenues-by luring students from nearby schools and districts and from the ranks of local homeschooled children.