Ask any country parent why they're sending their child to an expensive boarding school and they will say it's because they want them to have "opportunities".
For many parents that translates to wanting their child go to university.
But what if, as a nation, we are sending too many country students down a tertiary path when they would be better off doing a trade?
It's a question John Halsey from Flinders University has been thinking about since beginning the Federal Government's review of regional education.
The review was commissioned earlier this year to examine the barriers facing students' learning outcomes and access to study in the bush.
"I think the truthful answer is yes. The huge priority and status associated with [university] seems to be diminishing and displacing other very worthwhile pathways," Dr Halsey said.
"A university pathway is highly valued, ought to be available, ought to be accessible with minimal sense of struggle for rural children and indeed students everywhere but so should a high quality vocational pathway."
Employers need more skilled workers
As part of his review, Dr Halsey has been holding forums across Australia, and said an early theme from regional employers is the need for more skilled trades men and women.
"If Australia had 100 per cent of people all graduating with a degree, unless they're radically changed we're not going to have the knowledge and skillset needed for the nation's wellbeing," he said.
Dr Halsey also believes a trade qualification could make it easier for some regional students to return home, something 17-year-old Sandy Cooke knew he wanted after a couple years at boarding school in the city.
The teenager from Mollerin, in the West Australian wheatbelt, boarded at Hale School in Perth for three years but decided further academic study wasn't for him.
"I enjoy doing a lot of hands-on things more than sitting in a classroom," he said.
Sandy left boarding school at the end of Year 10 to complete his high school qualification at the West Australian College of Agriculture in Cunderdin.
His mother, Cathy Cooke, was firmly behind the decision.
"Going to ag school, you can still go to university, you can also take on a trade. So it's really up to the kids once they get there, then they can decide what path they would like to take," Ms Cooke said.
Regional populations shrinking
Next year, Sandy will start a heavy diesel apprenticeship in Dalwallinu, 110 kilometres west of Mollerin.
"It just gives me something to fall back on and then I'll be able to bring it back to the farm and help fix gear," he said.
The Cooke family's farm is 25 kilometres long as the crow flies. It has grown as other families have sold up and moved on.
There are now five empty homes on the property, and a wheat bin is the only infrastructure left in the town of Mollerin itself.
"Our small communities are getting smaller and smaller with automation and bigger machinery, so we really want to keep the families that we've got here staying here," Ms Cooke said.
"We want our kids to come back for whatever their dreams are, so if it's in perhaps agronomy or more hands on mechanics, we need everybody here. We won't discriminate."
