The plan aims to create brigades better equipped to operate in specific regions by establishing language and cultural proficiency programs in their assigned territory.

CNN: 'Smart power': Army making cultural training a priority

Differences in access persist, especially in terms of adults who have high-speed broadband at home, but they have become significantly less prominent over the years -- and have disappeared entirely when other demographic factors (including language proficiency) are controlled for.

CNN: Why one in five U.S. adults doesn't use the Internet

For starters, the two-year degree is housed at the Fletcher School, which specializes in international affairs, not business. (Tufts doesn't have a business school.) All students have previous international experience and they are required to demonstrate proficiency in a second language.

WSJ: Teaching Global Business

Fifty-five percent of New York students met the English Language Arts proficiency standards in 2012 by scoring at least a 3 on a scale of 1 to 4, and 65 percent scored at least a 3 on the math tests.

WSJ: Some NY parents to boycott new, harder state tests