A study examined the role of education in outmigration from the rural coastal community of Digby Neck, Nova Scotia. Data gathered on 756 Grade 6 students who left Digby Neck Consolidated School between 1957 and 1992 were supplemented by in-depth interviews with 36 of those former students, 12 area educators, and community members. Findings indicate that area residents define migration according to a spatial geography that is connected to economic activity and the social character of the region--"around here" is within 50 kilometers of Digby Neck, "not far" is within 250 kilometers, and "away" is beyond 250 kilometers. Both males and females who moved to the "not far" and "away" regions had acquired considerable educational credentials. Nearly a third of this group had a university-level education. Women were much more likely to move from Digby Neck than men, but their migrations tended to be to the "around here" and "not far" regions. Nearly two-thirds of the population studied remained "around here," which was not considered outmigration. Women who stayed on Digby Neck had considerably more educational credentials than men, reflecting the higher male resistance to formal education and their greater work opportunities in the area fishery. Male stayers were represented far more pervasively in the lowest educational category. Education was clearly linked to migration beyond the "around here" region, while those who remained were marked by low literacy level and poverty. (Contains 16 references.) (TD)