3). There Are Some Variations in the Use of Distance Education at Minority Serving Institutions Compared to Other Schools

It is difficult to generalize across the Minority Serving Institutions, but  available data indicate that while Minority Serving Institutions tend to  offer at least one distance education course at about the same rate as  other schools, they differ in how many courses are offered and which  students take the distance education courses. Minority Serving Institutions  tend to be similar to non-Minority Serving Institutions in the percentage of  schools that offer distance education, and to a considerable degree, they  also mirror other schools in that distance education is more prominent at  larger schools and at public schools. We found  that Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Tribal Colleges  offered fewer distance education courses than other schools, which may  be a reflection of their generally smaller size. Similarly, in July 2003,  Education reported that a higher percentage of larger schools eligible for  federal student aid programs offered distance education compared with  smaller schools. Teaching Preference and Resources Available for Distance Education Affect the Extent to Which Minority Serving Institutions Offer Distance Education

According to officials of Minority Serving Institutions, there are two  factors that explain why some Minority Serving Institutions do not offer  distance education. Here are  examples from two schools that prefer teaching their students in the  classroom rather than by the use of distance education. For Many Institutions, Expanding Technology on Campus is More Important Than Applying It to Distance Education

Minority Serving Institutions generally indicated that offering more  distance education was a lower priority than using technology to educate  their classroom students. Title V, part A,  under which funds are provided to Hispanic Serving Institutions, explicitly  allows program funds to be used for “creating or improving facilities for  Internet or other distance learning academic instruction capabilities,  including purchase or rental of telecommunications technology equipment  or services.” The program for Historically Black Colleges and Universities  (Title III, part B) and Tribal Colleges (Title III, part A) does not specifically  address the use of funds in this manner, however, using grant funds for  expanding distance education offerings or technology usage are  authorized activities, according to Education staff. Recommendations

We recommend that the Secretary of Education (1) direct managers of the  Title III and Title V programs to further improve their annual performance  report for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Tribal Colleges  by including areas such as student access to computers and the number of  distance education courses that were offered and (2) study the feasibility  of adding questions on distance education and information technology to  an existing study at Education, such as IPEDS, to develop baseline data on  technology capacity at Minority Serving Institutions and to judge the  extent to which progress is being made. In 1998, the Congress moved the provisions  authorizing grants to Hispanic Serving Institutions to Title V of the Higher  Education Act.
Why GAO Did This Study

Distance education--offering courses by Internet, video, or other forms outside the classroom--is a fast growing part of postsecondary education. GAO was asked to review the state of distance education at Minority Serving Institutions, which are schools that serve high percentages of minority students, including Blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians. Under Titles III and V of the Higher Education Act, these schools are eligible for grants that can be used for expanding their technology, including distance education. GAO's review focused on (1) the use of distance education at Minority Serving Institutions, (2) key factors influencing these schools' decisions about whether or not to offer distance education, and (3) steps the Department of Education could take, if any, to improve monitoring efforts of technological progress under Titles III and V programs.

What GAO Found

There are some variations in the use of distance education at Minority Serving Institutions compared to other schools. For example, while Minority Serving Institutions tend to offer at least one distance education course at the same rate as other schools, they differ in how many courses are offered and which students take the courses. Also, like other schools, larger Minority Serving Institutions tend to offer more distance education than smaller schools, and public schools tend to offer more distance education than private schools. However, Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Tribal Colleges generally offer fewer courses than other schools, and a smaller percentage of minority students take such courses. Minority Serving Institutions consider two main factors in deciding whether to offer distance education. The first is distance education's compatibility with the school's preferred teaching method. Many schools that offered no distance education had a strong preference for a classroom-based approach. The second is resources--schools offering little or no distance education had limited technology and support personnel. Also, Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic Serving Institutions viewed distance education as a lower priority compared to expanding technology usage in the classroom. By contrast, Tribal Colleges gave distance education higher priority, reflecting the greater geographic dispersion of their students. Education could strengthen its monitoring efforts of the Title III and V programs by expanding its existing system. Currently, the monitoring efforts for tracking the progress of technological improvements are more complete for Hispanic Serving Institutions than for the other Minority Serving Institutions. Education also lacks good baseline information on technology capacity at Minority Serving Institutions. Expanding current efforts to include such data would provide a basis for measuring the progress being made by Minority Serving Institutions.