Minority students may benefit from online education

Minority students may benefit from online education

Online learning is becoming an unstoppable force in the higher education industry. Recent research from the Sloan Consortium indicates that enrollment in online colleges has increased by 17 percent over the past year.

Part of this significant growth is heavily influenced by Latino and African-American students, which are two historically underrepresented groups in traditional higher education. In an article by Dr. Courtney Vien, Reaching Out to the Minority Working Learner, Vien describes the challenges that many minorities face while pursuing advanced education. These include being the first in a family to attend college, poverty, supporting a spouse or child and graduating from a substandard high school.

However, many online universities cater to nontraditional students who may benefit from the convenience and flexibility offered by web-based degree programs.

African-Americans represent 6.7 percent of California's population, according to the U.S. Census. Yet these individuals made up only 3 percent of incoming freshman at the University of California, San Diego. However, online colleges such as the University of Phoenix report that 27.5 percent of its bachelor's degree students in 2008 were African-American and 15.7 percent were Latino. This is because nontraditional schools often specialize in finding solutions that accommodate minority learners.

Web-based courses allow students to complete homework on a flexible schedule that meets their needs. These programs provide working adults with a way to earn a degree without disrupting their day jobs of family lives.

By Mark Danson