American rural communities are decaying, the underlying causes being chronic unemployment and inadequate infrastructure. The information age can cause the ultimate demise of rural America by further eroding local institutions or it can be its savior by revitalizing the sense of community. The link between community development and the information age is discussed. Electronic access to government services and online learning, tele-entrepreneurship, and using one's computer to get a better job are part of the solution to rebuilding rural community. The Internet, the National Resource Education Network (NREN), and the National Information Infrastructure (NII), which directs and makes policy for NREN and the Internet, are briefly described. Policy goals of the NII are discussed, particularly that it provide universal service to avoid information haves and have-nots. A proposed project that will deliver economic development services to all of Kansas is described, as are two successful rural information networks. In K-12 education, the two main issues are training teachers to use the Internet and the incorporation of Internet information into the curriculum so that it is relevant and useful. (TD)