I remember going to the airport a few years ago and talking with my cab driver who moonlighted as a teacher (or was he a teacher who moonlighted as a cab driver?). He mentioned to me that in Nigeria, everybody looks at Howard University as the ultimate for a college education. He said that everybody in Nigeria wants to find a way to go to Howard University.

That way could be through taking online courses. Unfortunately, many Historically Black Colleges and Universities are far behind the curve when it comes to the latest technologies in education. Skype lectures, distance learning, online courses, and using social networking are now keeping students abreast of coursework. What's ironic is that these students, who are often full-time employees, would most benefit from the flexibility of these kinds of technological advances.
Blacks comprised about 12 percent of total enrollment in higher education in 2007, but were 21 percent of students at for-profit institutions - many of which are online, according to an American Council on Education report released this year.

Syndicated radio host Tom Joyner has invested about $7 million to start HBCUsOnline.com, an educational services venture run by his son.

"My father noticed very early on that a lot of the students doing the online education boom were members of his listening audience," said Tom Joyner Jr. in an interview with the Associated Press. "Those listeners could be better served by HBCUs."

The Sloan Consortium for Online Education estimates about one-third of the country's 4,500 universities offer online degrees. But only about 10 percent of the nation's 105 historically black colleges do, according to the White House Initiative on Historical Black Institutions. (Larger percentages offer online courses without degrees.)

"In order to keep pace and add institutional versatility, we should be in this space," said John Wilson Jr., executive director of the White House Initiative.

Part of the problem is money: Black colleges generally have small endowments and are largely tuition-dependent. Many don't have the technological infrastructure to support online education, said Marybeth Gasman, an HBCU expert at the University of Pennsylvania.

The schools also have struggled with low retention and graduation rates, partly because of students' financial backgrounds. Some officials worry that online student dropouts could further drag down those rates, possibly affecting accreditation, said Ezell Brown, CEO of Education Online Services, another company working to put black colleges online.

Also at issue is whether the nurturing campus environment often touted by black colleges can be replicated in cyberspace. To be successful online, the schools must offer strong student advising and a cultural component that somehow virtually conveys the campus ethos, Gasman said.

Dallas-based HBCUsOnline.com, which launched in September, aims to be a one-stop shop for browsing online programs at black schools. The site promises students personal guidance "from registration to graduation."

So far, Hampton and Texas Southern Universities have signed on. Joyner Jr. expects to announce more partner schools in the coming months. However, some schools have refused because they believe teaching online won't serve the mission they're trying to achieve.

Hampton is actually a online pioneer, having launched its online program 10 years ago with about a dozen students. Today, it has about 400 and hopes to find more through HBCUsOnline.com, said Cassandra Herring, dean of the college of education and continuing studies.

I teach at an HBCU, and the truth is that there is no monolithic way to serve all of the community. There are some students who need the extra push or nurturing that is offered at a black school. There are students that don't need the extra nurturing to do well in class. There are some that you need to hold their hand and some that could teach the class. But one thing that is true -- there are a large number of students that work full-time jobs in addition to going to school full-time.

There are older and young students that are married with children. There are many that could use Saturday courses, night courses, and courses online for the flexibility they offer. The more options you offer, the more students you attract and the more students you retain. That's just common sense.