One of the four case studies addressing access of rural students to vocational education through inter-school district cooperation, the Heartland case study represents the decentralized variation of the center cooperative school pattern, identifies essential features of this form of cooperation, details factors facilitating/impeding the operation/maintenance of the cooperative arrangement, assesses the program's compatibility with its setting, and recommends modifications for further study and development. Distinguishing program features include multiple facilities located in two or more member school districts, center governance structure, organized program of courses associated with the center, center administrative and teaching staff, center budget and financing system, and teaching materials/equipment owned/rented by the center. Chapter I presents the study background, purpose, and method. Chapter II outlines political, geographic, and demongraphic characteristics of Heartland's north central Minnesota "lake country" setting. Chapter III analyzes size, facilities, finances, governance, staff, scheduling, curriculum, students, and perceptions of school personnel and community members of the three participating school districts. Chapter IV focuses on the history, legal structure, financing and costs, curriculum, and transportation of the decentalized center. The next three chapters detail consumer homemaking, occupational home economics, and vocational agricultural programs of the Heartland program. Chapter VIII offers a summary, conclusions, and recommendations. (NEC)