Executive Summary of the DLL's "HBCU Online & Blended Degree Programs -- 2012"

Note: The 2013 update for this note is in process.

In July 2012 the Digital Learning Lab (DLL) produced its fifth report since 2005 that summarizes the distance learning programs offered by HBCUs for non-traditional students. This July 2012 edition covers online and blended degree programs. ... Note: link to full report at bottom of this summary

Most of the data referenced in this report came from the DLL’s systematic reviews of the 105 HBCU Websites during the last weeks in May and early June 2012. Its principal findings are as follows:

• Steady Expansion
  HBCUs continued their steady expansion into the market for online and blended degree programs for non-traditional students. In June 2012, 24 HBCUs offered online or blended degrees, compared to 19 in November 2010; and many HBCUs that had offered programs in 2010 added additional degrees by 2012.
   
• Public vs. Private
  Eighteen public HBCUs offered online or blended degrees, compared to 6 private HBCUs – three times as many.
   
• Strategic Partners
  Eleven of the 24 HBCUs, almost half, engaged online service providers as strategic partners to assist them in the development, marketing, and operation of their online or blended degree programs. The partners invested substantial funds to launch the programs in exchange for a negotiated share of the tuition revenue from enrolled students. 

The DLL also found the overall patterns of HBCUs regarding their online/blended programs were consistent with patterns repeatedly reported in the Babson Survey Group’s comprehensive annual surveys (co-sponsored by the Sloan Consortium) of the national academic community’s online initiatives, and more recently by its widely noted “Conflicted: Faculty and Online Education, 2012” survey (co-sponsored by Inside Higher Education). 

Please CLICK HERE to download the PDF file containing the full report from Google Docs.

Note: For an alternative summary of this report, see "Historically Black, Online" (Inside Higher Education, 8/1/12)

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Related Notes:

• The Best HBCUs for Online Degrees in 2012
• MOOCs in Brief
• Supply and Demand -- Online Programs in the Great Recession
• A Framework for Developing Online and Blended Degree & Certificate Programs for Non-Traditional Students