The extent to which regional variations in socioeconomic circumstances influence the educational mobility patterns of rural youth and the nature of those influences is explored in this cross-national comparative study. The study drew upon data from 3 modern, industrialized societies: Germany, Norway, and the United States. The study population is described as (1) elementary or secondary school students at a stage in the educational career track immediately prior to a major decision-making point; (2) essentially rural; and (3) more or less "total populations" of students at the specified "terminal grade" level in the schools serving the selected regional areas. The areas were chosen to represent a fairly wide range of rural socioeconomic circumstances within each of the 3 societies. Data, from questionnaires administered in classrooms by research staff or regular school personnel, were collected in Germany during the spring of 1965; in Kentucky, spring, 1968; and simultaneously, in West Virginia and Norway, spring, 1970. It was determined that the major theme that emerged concerned social differences in the structuring, by regions, of educational opportunities. The findings indicate that in the United States rural industrialization enhances the quest for higher education while the educational opportunities and upward educational mobility ambitions of lower class youth are depressed in areas of limited economic opportunity, such as Appalachia. In Europe, where educational systems are managed by the state, upward educational mobility exists as a meaningful option for youth in all areas. Six tables and a figure comparing the 3 countries' educational systems are included. (FF)