Attempting to answer questions re: the recognition and preparation of teachers for rural America, this paper presents a brief overview of pertinent literature and examines a sample of colleges and universities preparing teachers in U.S. Office of Education (USOE) Region VII (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska) for purposes of identifying rural vs metro locations and the extent of undergraduate and graduate teacher/administrator preparation programs. Tabular data is presented on Region VII re: number of 1975 North Central Association of Schools (NCA) member high schools grouped by size; number and percent of 1973 American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) members by population of city and base support; results of a questionnaire sent to every other AACTE member institution in the Region (N=28 responses out of 46) re: required rurally oriented courses, number of student teachers enrolled, percent of student teachers located in towns and cities of differing populations; and graduate majors and minors offered for rural teacher and administrator preparation. In general, this report indicates a need for: rural educators, institutions located in the rural environment, and rurally specific teacher/administrator preparation. (JC)