If you live in a city, you can likely attend a college from your parents' house. For those of us in rural areas, that is not even remotely true.

If you intend to attend college, but live in a rural area, you have to prepare for all the expenses of living on your own, on top of quickly rising college expenses. You need a place to live, a budget for food, possibly even transportation.

There is also a general wealth disparity, since the cost of living in urban areas is generally higher, wages in urban areas are generally higher. Because of this, the average (mode) person in a rural area has a much lower income than the average person in an urban area.

In a country where education is leaving people in lifelong debt, it's not surprising that those of us who are born in rural areas are left behind.