Enrollments in Online Courses in the Fall 2012 Semester at Public vs. Private HBCUs

Last update: Thursday 2/5/15 @ 1:02pm 

This report is the DLL's first attempt to tabulate and analyze the data about student enrollments in "distance education" (DE) courses that was compiled by the IPEDS Data Center (U.S. Department of Education) for the first time for the Fall 2012 semester. Indeed, the Fall 2012 data was the only "distance education" data that IPEDS has published on its website as of July 2014..

This report only considers enrollments in DE courses offered by HBCUs. Subsequent reports will place the patterns observed in the HBCU data into the broader context of patterns found in the online enrollments of all of the nation's accredited colleges and universities.


(Note: This report will be updated soon to consider more recent IPEDS data and related data from the Babson surveys.)
A. IPEDS Definitions and Explanations
The following excepts from the "Fall Enrollment, Distance Education" sections on the IPEDS Website should be kept in mind:

• "Distance education course - A course in which the instructional content is delivered exclusively via distance education. Requirements for coming to campus for orientation, testing, or academic support services do not exclude a course from being classified as distance education." 
   
• "Distance education - Education that uses one or more technologies to deliver instruction to students who are separated from the instructor and to support regular and substantive interaction between the students and the instructor synchronously or asynchronously." 
   
• "Technologies used for instruction may include the following: Internet; one-way and two-way transmissions through open broadcasts, closed circuit, cable, microwave, broadband lines, fiber optics, satellite or wireless communication devices; audio conferencing; and video cassette, DVDs, and CD-ROMs, if the cassette, DVDs, and CD-ROMs are used in a course in conjunction with the technologies listed above."

Although the last paragraph indicates that technologies other than Internet were included in the IPEDS survey, the DLL's own surveys of HBCU Website indicate that the vast majority of the distance education courses offered by HBCUs in 2012 were "online courses" ... i.e.,  courses delivered via the Internet. In subsequent reports the DLL will attempt to estimate the size of the non-Internet component of DE courses offered by HBCUs; but for now this report will assume that the non-Internet component is negligible, i.e., less than five percent (5%). Therefore DE courses will be referred to as "online courses" throughout the remainder of this report.

B. The DLL's Surveys of HBCU Online & Blended Degree Programs 

As regular readers of this blog are probably aware, the DLL conducts an annual survey of the Websites of HBCUs in order to identify their online and blended degree programs. Links to the DLL's most recent directories of the HBCUs' programs can be viewed by clicking these links ==> 2012 ... 2013 ... 2014

• The DLL's focus on degree programs provides a high level view of how HBCUs use online technology to support their off-campus, non-traditional students ... but the DLL's surveys can provide no estimates of the number of off-campus students who are enrolled in these online degree programs.
   
• By contrast, the IPEDS data that is presented in Tables 1 and 2 (below) identifies the number of students at each HBCU who were enrolled in at least one online course during the Fall 2012 semester ... but the IPEDS data doesn't say how many of these students were traditional, on-campus students vs. how many were non-traditional, off-campus students.
   
• Nevertheless, it will be seen that the IPEDS data is weakly consistent with the findings from the DLL's surveys; however there are a few anomalies that will be noted in the final sections of this report.

C. The IPEDS Data
Table 1A (below) displays the top ten rows from the full Table 1B (appendix) of 100 rows of data that was extracted from the IPEDS database. This brief excerpt will be used to illustrate the kinds of data found in the columns of the full table. The full table appears in the Appendix to this report (bottom of Web page).

Table 1A. Top Ten Rows of Table 1BB

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)	ST	Type	Fall 2012 Enroll	Some Online	% Some Online	2012 online degree programs
Wilberforce University	OH	Private	518	518	100.0%
Hampton University	VA	Private	4,765	3,741	78.5%	y
Paine College	GA	Private	837	436	52.1%
Alcorn State University	MS	Public	3,950	1,867	47.3%
Shaw University	NC	Private	2,183	1,012	46.4%
St Philip's College	TX	Public	10,313	4,209	40.8%	y
Virginia University of Lynchburg	VA	Private	540	202	37.4%	y
Norfolk State University	VA	Public	7,100	2,649	37.3%	y
Bethune-Cookman University	FL	Private	3,543	1,228	34.7%	y
Alabama State University	AL	Public	5,816	1,996	34.3%

• The first column of Table 1A contains the names of the HBCUs; the second column notes their states; and the third indicates whether the HBCUs are public or private institutions. 
   
• The fourth column records total enrollments (undergraduate and graduate levels) in the Fall 2012 semester
   
• The fifth column displays the number of students in each HBCU that took at least one online course during the Fall 2012 semester ... Example: Wilberforce reported that all 518 of its students took at least one online course during the Fall 2012 semester ... Hampton reported that 3,741 students took at least one online course during the Fall 2012. 
  
  Note #1 -- IPEDS provides four variables: 1-"All students enrolled", 2-"
  Students enrolled exclusively in distance education courses", 3-"
  Students enrolled in some but not all distance education courses", and 4-"
  Students not enrolled in any distance education courses". The author has verified that the variables add up for all 100 HBCUs, i.e., 1 = 2 + 3 + 4; so the IPEDS data is consistent. ... The fifth column in Tables 1A and 1B, "Some Online", contains the sum of IPEDS 2 + IPEDS 3.
  
  Note #2 -- Each student is only counted once, no matter whether he or she took one online course, two online courses, or five online courses during the Fall 2012 semester
   
• The sixth column reports the percentage of students who took at least one online course = Online/Enrollment ... Example: Wilberforce = 518/518 = 100% ... Example: Hampton = 3,741/4,765 = 78.5%
   
• The seventh column (outside the table) flags HBCUs that offered online degree programs in the Fall 2012 semester, as recorded in the DLL's 2012 directory. Example: Wilberforce did not offer online degrees, but Hampton did.

D. Findings
Various facets of the IPEDS data in Table 1B (appendix) are summarized in the following three tables and graphs.

Table 2A. Enrollment Shares vs. Online Shares

Type	# HBCUs	Total Enroll	Share Total Enroll	Total Online	Share Total Online
Public	50	237,015	76.0%	39,568	80.6%
Private	50	74,656	24.0%	9,524	19.4%
Total	100	311,671	100.0%	49,092	100.0%

The stats displayed in Table 2A and Figure A provide the framework for the findings in subsequent tables and charts:

• Although there were 105 HBCUs in the Fall 2012, five had lost their accreditation; hence the IPEDS database contains no data about them
   
• Of the 100 accredited HBCUs, 50 were public and 50 were private -- as shown in the second column of Table 2A
   
• The public HBCUs enrolled more than three times as many students as the private HBCUs ... 76% vs. 24% ... as shown in the fourth column of Table 2A and the first stacked column in Figure A.
   
• The public HBCUs share of the HBCU students who took at least one course in the Fall 2012 semester was slightly larger than its share of enrollments ... 80.6% vs 19.4% for the private HBCUs ... as shown in the sixth column of Table 2A and the second stacked column of Figure A.
   

Table 2B. Three Groups of HBCUs -- Zero, Middle, and High

Type	Zero  = 0%	Middle = 0.1% to 25.4%	High = 25.5%  to 100%	Totals
Public	4	33	13	50
Private	31	12	7	50
Total	35	45	20	100

The 100 accredited HBCUs were divided into three groups that were defined by the percentage of students who took at least one online course during the Fall 2012 semester. 

• The "Zero" group contains HBCUs wherein no students took any online courses during the Fall 2012 semester;
  
  
• The "High" group contain the HBCUs wherein the highest percentage of students took at least one online course. The cutoff was 25.5 percent or greater. There were 20 HBCUs in this group
   
• The "Middle" group contain the HBCUs wherein the percentage of students who took at least one online course was greater than zero but less than 25.5 percent.
   
• Most private HBCUs fell into the "Zero" group ... as shown in the second column of Table 2B and the first stacked bar in Figure B ... Indeed, 31 out of 50 private HBCUs reported that none of their students took any online courses during the Fall 2012 semester.
   
• By contrast, the Zero group contained the fewest number of public HBCUs ... as shown in the second column of Table 2B and the first stacked bar in Figure B ... Only 4 of the 50 HBCUs reported that none of their students took any online courses.
   
• The largest number of public HBCUs fell into the Middle group, 33 out of 50 ... as shown in the third column of the table and the second stacked column in Figure B.
   
• Not surprisingly, the smallest number of public and private HBCUs fell into the High group. It's worth noting that there are almost twice as many public HBCUs in this group as private HBCUs, 13 vs. 7 ... as shown in the fourth column of Table 2B and the third stacked bar in Figure B.

Table 2C. Online Shares of HBCUs Enrollments in Middle and High Groups

Type	Num Middle HBCUs	Middle Enroll- ment	Middle Online	Middle Online Share	Num High HBCUs	High Enroll- ment	High Online	High Online Share
Public	33	147,237	14,518	9.9%	13	78,182	25,050	32.0%
Private	12	21,752	2,127	9.8%	7	13,405	7,397	55.2%
Total	45	168,989	16,645	9.8%	20	91,587	32,447	35.4%

Tables 2C and Figure C take a closer look at the HBCUs whose students took at least one online course during the Fall 2012 semester, i.e., the Middle and High groups:

• As per the second column of Table 2C, there were 45 HBCUs in the Middle group, 33 public and 12 private
   
• The third column and fourth columns provide the total enrollment and the number of students in Middle HBCUs who took at least one online course.
   
• The fifth column displays the online share, i.e., the percentage of students who took at least one online course -- 9.9% for public HBCUs (14,518/147,237) and 9.8% for private HBCUs (2,127/21,752)
   
• The sixth column shows that there were 20 HBCUs in the High group, 13 public and 7 private
   
• The seventh and eighth  columns provide total enrollments and the number of students in High HBCUs who took at least one online course.
   
• The ninth column displays the online share for High HBCUs, i.e., the percentage of students who took at least one online course -- 32.0% for public HBCUs (25,050/78,182) and 55.2% for private HBCUs (7,397/13,405)

E. Conclusions

• In the Fall 2012 semester, public HBCUs were more committed to providing their students with online learning opportunities than private HBCUs. As per Table 2A, none of the students at 31 out of 50 private HBCUs took any online courses. By contrast, some of the students at 46 of the 50 public HBCUs took at least one online course during that semester.
   
• However, a closer examination of the data in Table 2C for the 45 HBCUs in the Middle group shows that there was hardly any difference between the students taking online courses taken at the 33 public HBCUs vs the 12 private HBCUs. The percentage of students taking online courses in both groups was about the same -- 9.9% at the public HBCUs vs. 9.8% at the private HBCUs.
   
• But among the 20 HBCUs in the High group, the commitment of the 7 private HBCUs to online opportunities was substantially greater than the commitment of the 13 public HBCUs. As shown in Table 2C and Figure C, about one third of the students (32%) who were enrolled in High public HBCUs were taking online courses; whereas more than half (55.2%) of the students attending High private HBCUs were taking online courses.
  
  Indeed, as shown in Table 1B (below), four of the five HBCUs with the highest online participation rates were private HBCUs (Wilberforce, Hampton, Paine, and Shaw).
   
• These findings are consistent with the DLL's 2012 survey that identified HBCUs that offered online degrees programs. As shown by the Xs in the unshaded column on the right side of Tables 1A and 1B, nine of the 20 HBCUs in the High group offered online degrees. And as also shown by the Xs in the unshaded columns, 19 of the 23 accredited HBCUs that offered online degrees were public HBCUs. But Hampton University provides an important instance of a private HBCU showing stronger commitment to online programs than public HBCUs. In 2012 Hampton offered 17 online degrees, more than any other HBCU.
   

Appendix ..............................................................................................

Table 1B. IPEDS Data About Students in Online Courses at HBCUs in the Fall 2012 Semester

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)	ST	Type	Fall 2012 Enroll	Some Online	% Some Online	2012 online degree programs
Wilberforce University	OH	Private	518	518	100.0%
Hampton University	VA	Private	4,765	3,741	78.5%	y
Paine College	GA	Private	837	436	52.1%
Alcorn State University	MS	Public	3,950	1,867	47.3%
Shaw University	NC	Private	2,183	1,012	46.4%
St Philip's College	TX	Public	10,313	4,209	40.8%	y
Virginia University of Lynchburg	VA	Private	540	202	37.4%	y
Norfolk State University	VA	Public	7,100	2,649	37.3%	y
Bethune-Cookman University	FL	Private	3,543	1,228	34.7%	y
Alabama State University	AL	Public	5,816	1,996	34.3%
Fayetteville State University	NC	Public	6,060	2,057	33.9%	y
University of the Virgin Islands	VI	Public	2,423	755	31.2%
Jackson State University	MS	Public	8,819	2,542	28.8%	y
Gadsden State Community College	AL	Public	5,882	1,634	27.8%
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff	AR	Public	2,828	767	27.1%
North Carolina Central University	NC	Public	8,604	2,314	26.9%	y
Grambling State University	LA	Public	5,277	1,391	26.4%
Winston-Salem State University	NC	Public	5,689	1,485	26.1%	y
Bowie State University	MD	Public	5,421	1,384	25.5%
Stillman College	AL	Private	1,019	260	25.5%
Wiley College	TX	Private	1,401	310	22.1%
Prairie View A & M University	TX	Public	8,336	1,826	21.9%	y
Talladega College	AL	Private	1,203	256	21.3%
West Virginia State University	WV	Public	2,644	514	19.4%
Fort Valley State University	GA	Public	3,568	691	19.4%	y
Bluefield State College	WV	Public	1,935	364	18.8%
University of Maryland Eastern Shore	MD	Public	4,454	823	18.5%
Lincoln University	MO	Public	3,205	576	18.0%
Langston University	OK	Public	2,518	410	16.3%	y
Paul Quinn College	TX	Private	192	31	16.1%
North Carolina A & T State University	NC	Public	10,636	1,700	16.0%	y
Bishop State Community College	AL	Public	3,791	602	15.9%
Central State University	OH	Public	2,152	337	15.7%
Kentucky State University	KY	Public	2,524	390	15.5%	y
Fisk University	TN	Private	620	87	14.0%
South Carolina State University	SC	Public	3,807	528	13.9%
H Councill Trenholm State Technical College	AL	Public	1,445	193	13.4%
Shelton State Community College	AL	Public	5,104	666	13.0%
Interdenominational Theological Center	GA	Private	827	105	12.7%
Southern University and A & M College	LA	Public	6,397	787	12.3%	y
Southern University at New Orleans	LA	Public	2,820	336	11.9%
Savannah State University	GA	Public	4,582	493	10.8%
Albany State University	GA	Public	4,275	445	10.4%	y
Texas Southern University	TX	Public	9,646	984	10.2%	y
J F Drake State Community and Technical College	AL	Public	1,248	127	10.2%
Howard University	DC	Private	10,002	994	9.9%	y
Elizabeth City State University	NC	Public	2,878	268	9.3%
Johnson C Smith University	NC	Private	1,669	154	9.2%
Edward Waters College	FL	Private	925	81	8.8%
Coahoma Community College	MS	Public	2,305	181	7.9%
Huston-Tillotson University	TX	Private	918	69	7.5%
Southern University at Shreveport	LA	Public	2,937	210	7.2%
Mississippi Valley State University	MS	Public	2,479	131	5.3%	y
Concordia College Alabama	AL	Private	611	32	5.2%
Coppin State University	MD	Public	3,612	179	5.0%
Harris-Stowe State University	MO	Public	1,484	72	4.9%
University of the District of Columbia	DC	Public	5,110	171	3.3%
Morgan State University	MD	Public	7,952	210	2.6%	y
Lawson State Community College-Birmingham Campus	AL	Public	3,419	86	2.5%
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University	FL	Public	12,057	134	1.1%	y
Southwestern Christian College	TX	Private	206	2	1.0%
Delaware State University	DE	Public	4,324	36	0.8%
Alabama A & M University	AL	Public	4,853	25	0.5%
Tennessee State University	TN	Public	8,740	23	0.3%	y
Xavier University of Louisiana	LA	Private	3,178	6	0.2%
Allen University	SC	Private	672	0	0.0%
Arkansas Baptist College	AR	Private	1,082	0	0.0%
Benedict College	SC	Private	2,917	0	0.0%
Bennett College	NC	Private	707	0	0.0%
Cheyney University of Pennsylvania	PA	Public	1,284	0	0.0%
Claflin University	SC	Private	1,946	0	0.0%
Clark Atlanta University	GA	Private	3,419	0	0.0%
Clinton College	SC	Private	139	0	0.0%
Denmark Technical College	SC	Public	2,003	0	0.0%
Dillard University	LA	Private	1,307	0	0.0%
Florida Memorial University	FL	Private	1,579	0	0.0%
Jarvis Christian College	TX	Private	603	0	0.0%
Lane College	TN	Private	1,512	0	0.0%
Le Moyne-Owen College	TN	Private	1,078	0	0.0%
Lincoln University of Pennsylvania	PA	Public	2,101	0	0.0%
Livingstone College	NC	Private	1,111	0	0.0%
Meharry Medical College	TN	Private	782	0	0.0%
Miles College	AL	Private	1,691	0	0.0%
Morehouse College	GA	Private	2,374	0	0.0%
Morehouse School of Medicine	GA	Private	360	0	0.0%
Morris College	SC	Private	874	0	0.0%
Oakwood University	AL	Private	2,019	0	0.0%
Philander Smith College	AR	Private	666	0	0.0%
Rust College	MS	Private	934	0	0.0%
Saint Augustine's University	NC	Private	1,442	0	0.0%
Saint Pauls College	VA	Private	112	0	0.0%
Selma University	AL	Private	643	0	0.0%
Shorter College	AR	Private	52	0	0.0%
Spelman College	GA	Private	2,145	0	0.0%
Texas College	TX	Private	845	0	0.0%
Tougaloo College	MS	Private	972	0	0.0%	Y
Tuskegee University	AL	Private	3,117	0	0.0%
Virginia State University	VA	Public	6,208	0	0.0%
Virginia Union University	VA	Private	1,751	0	0.0%
Voorhees College	SC	Private	648	0	0.0%