Education & Distance Learning Enthusiasts- HBCUs Poised To Offer ONLINE DEGREES

Home | Education & Distance Learning Articles | Article

HBCUs Poised To Offer ONLINE DEGREES - Brief Article

Black Issues in Higher Education - March 16, 2000

HAMPTON, Va. -- Within the historically Black college and university community, the push to offer online distance learning courses is entering a new phase -- the establishment of online degree programs.

This summer, Hampton University will begin two degree programs whose courses will be accessible entirely through the Internet. Many Black schools offer online courses, but Hampton will be the first to offer a full degree program.

A number of other HBCUs, such as Florida A&M and Clark Atlanta Universities, are right behind Hampton, expanding their online course offerings into degree programs within the next couple of years.

"We've had a mandate from President [Dr. William] Harvey to make this happen," says Debra White, assistant provost for technology at Hampton, noting that the school has been preparing for online degree offerings over the past two years.

Hampton will offer an online bachelor's in religion and philosophy, and an online Ph.D in nursing, according to White. Several faculty members are currently testing their online courses, with more than 250 Hampton undergraduates enrolled in religion and philosophy classes, White says.

The race to develop and package courses into online degree programs is sweeping American higher education. Currently, close to 350 four-year colleges and universities offer at least one online distance learning degree program, which is slightly more than 10 percent of four-year institutions in the country.

The number of schools with online degree programs jumped from 250 in December 1998, to 350 in December 1999, according to "Distance Degrees," a yearly reference book on online degree programs.

Spurred partially by competition from for-profit educational companies, traditional higher education institutions began offering online courses and degree programs primarily to nontraditional students and working adults.

Mark Wilson, president of the Oregon-based Distance Degrees, Inc., says studies have shown the market for online degree programs and courses is heavily concentrated among working adults in their late 20s to their 50s. The average age of an online degree program student is 31, he says.

"What you're seeing is that distance education is attracting mature adults," Wilson says.

At Hampton, officials say the school's annual ministers' conference revealed that there is significant interest among working clergy to acquire four-year degrees in the formal study of religion and philosophy. White says market research also indicated to Hampton officials that the production of nursing Ph.Ds is critical for American colleges and universities to have a growing pool of faculty to teach in four-year programs.

"I think [religion, philosophy and nursing] are strong areas to get involved in," says Mark S. Hall, CEO and co-founder of ED-X.com, an international online education marketing firm.

Hall says it's common for colleges and universities to package the most popular education programs -- such as business administration -- as their first foray into online degree offerings. But he says that schools servicing niche markets, such as the clergy community, stand to do quite well.

"If a school has a strong faculty in an unique field, that will set them apart from other institutions offering more common study areas," Hall says.

To develop the capacity to offer online distance learning courses, historically Black institutions are turning to outside sources for help. Foundations, federal agencies and state governments are helping underwrite equipment purchases and faculty training programs. In some cases, public HBCUs in states like Florida, are under a mandate to develop online programs.

Clark Atlanta and Florida A&M have had government agencies and foundations help them jumpstart forthcoming online degree programs. Grants totaling $2.2 million from the Lilly Foundation and the publicly funded Georgia Research Alliance have enabled the Atlanta-based school to begin building a campus distance learning center that will combine videoconferencing technology with the Internet and other technologies.

Clark Atlanta officials say that integrating videoconferencing with various distribution technologies will yield a wide array of formats for delivering course material to students.

James Mitchell, the CEO of AlphaOmega InfoSystems, Inc. in Baltimore, Md., says HBCUs are watching closely how institutions such as Clark Atlanta and Hampton develop online degree programs.

AlphaOmega Systems, as the technology partner to the [HBC.sup.3] distance learning consortium, is working with Clark Atlanta on faculty training efforts. [HBC.sup.3] is a nonprofit organization.

Dr. Dhyana Ziegler, assistant vice president for instructional technology at Florida A&M, says the university is getting $3.5 million from the National Science Foundation to develop a slate of science, math and engineering courses online.

She says that online courses are already under way at the university's education and engineering schools. For Florida A&M, going online adds to the videoconferencing programs -- including a Ph.D program in pharmacy -- the school currently offers. The Ph.D pharmacy degree program enables students in satellite classrooms in Tampa and Miami to see live videotaped lectures.

If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised in this article with hundreds of other Education & Distance Learning enthusiasts from around the world, please feel free to visit the discussion forums & post a message.

Discuss this article in the discussion forums now.

Popular Education & Distance Learning Discussions From The Past

Re: Ashworth College Student (9 posts)
by Chuck - Last post on: 08-12-03 12:56
Drop me a line at Goossee@hotmail.com I have been taking courses for about a year and am aobut to grad. all my hours have transferred --- View this thread: http://www.online-college.info/article784.html Chuck------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chuck's Profile:... (Read More)

Leadership Certification Series (1 posts)
by Tim Schneider Soaring Eagle Entpr. - Last post on: 01-06-04 10:10
Business Management, Human Resource Management, Executive Development, Leadership and Customer Service Certification Programs Offered The Community College of Southern Nevada pleased to announce the offering of five exciting certification programs in the spring of 2004. The 13 Week Business ... (Read More)

Re: Concord School of Law Investigation (13 posts)
by Dennis Ruhl - Last post on: 08-21-03 18:18
Won't comment on anonymous unsatisfied litigous ex-student. For other potential students, please note that posting here is an opinion that has apparently not yet been proven in a court. Concord has generally been well accepted, given its status as non-ABA accredited. --- View this thread: ht... (Read More)

Re: financial aid (1 posts)
by HeartOfFire - Last post on: 08-23-03 18:28
do they generally qualify for FAFSA grants? --- View this thread: http://www.online-college.info/article1051.html HeartOfFire------------------------------------------------------------------------ HeartOfFire's Profile: http://www.online-college.info/forum/member.php?action=getinfo&userid=410 ... (Read More)

You must register before posting in the Education & Distance Learning discussion forums. It's free & only takes a few seconds. Please also remember that no advertising is allowed...
Enter The Forums Here