Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the availability of up to $19.3 million for the Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant Program.

The program is intended to assist rural communities in acquiring the technologies for local teachers and health care providers to link to other needed expertise in order to expand access to education, training, and health care resources for rural Americans.

Virtually all entities – including state and local governments, tribal organizations, consortia, partnerships, and for-profits – that operate a rural community facility or deliver distance learning or telemedicine services to a rural community facility are eligible to apply. Eligible activities for funding include the acquisition of equipment, the acquisition of instructional programming, and technical assistance and instruction for using equipment.

Awards will range from $50,000 to $500,000. Applications are due on July 7, 2014.