A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess the degree to which teacher training programs in 4-year public colleges and universities include rural education as part of their teacher education program. Questionnaires were mailed to college of education deans and chairpersons at each of the 473 4-year public colleges and universities in the United States, and 306 usable responses were received for a return rate of 64.7%. The Statistical Analysis System computer program for the social sciences was used to list frequency distributions and to calculate the mean, standard deviation, and range for variables from the questionnaire. A total of 13,613 education faculty members were reported as working at the institutions surveyed. Of these, only 257--less than 2%--focused their research and/or publication interests on rural education. Only 87 institutions included rural education as part of their curriculum, and only 9 reported a course devoted solely to the study of rural or small schools. On the other hand, respondents recognized a need to pay greater attention to rural education. Nearly half agreed that teaching in small schools is different than teaching in urban and suburban schools and requires different preparation, and 34% felt their institutions should make provisions for the training of prospective rural teachers. The survey instrument is appended. (JHZ)