Approximately 3 million American adults lack access to both online and physical institutes of higher education. A report from the Urban Institute examines the intersection of physical education deserts with online education deserts, where access to broadband needed for online education is limited. Although online education is not a perfect substitute for learning in a physical classroom, increasing access to online coursework is a common response to the issue of education deserts.
The report can be obtained at https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/96191/disconnected_from_higher_education_1.pdf