HBCU Online Graduates Need an Employability Boosting International Edge Too

Sept. 7, 2010 - PRLog -- Bronx, NY-- The virtual or V-HBCU concept is not new. As Cappella and University of Phoenix have grown to dominate for-profit, online postsecondary school space they enroll hundreds of thousand of African Americans. Having an HBCU version that caters to its student’s needs as only an HBCU can makes sense if those qualitative attributes can transfer to a digital distance learning medium.

“We wish them the best of luck because of their potential impact on the achievement gap, but my concern is that thousands of students who cannot attend a bricks and mortar school will miss out on the global literacy and employability benefits of  the postsecondary intercultural learning experience we are offering via the SAGE Consortium” says Steven W. Jones president and CEO of IERC Education Foundation (www.iercef.org), which this year developed and launched the North Carolina Study Abroad/Global Engagement (SAGE) Consortium for 11 HBCUs. “We want to work with the online university providers just like all 105 HBCUs to establish this vital educational experience for underrepresented students. That is why we are promoting SAGE Online.”

IERCEF has made much of the statistics that profile U.S. student’s international mobility. White students make up 64 percent of college enrollment, but 82 percent of study abroad, while African American college students comprise 13 percent of those enrolled, but comprise only a record-breaking four percent of those who studied abroad according to the most recent figures. First Lady Michelle Obama’s George Washington University graduation speech told the seniors… “This class of graduates in particular has a leg-up, because at GW, you’ve already been trained to think in this way (globally). Nearly half of the undergraduates here study abroad…and yes, serving abroad (global engagement) will make you stronger, more competitive and a more valuable asset for a career in the public or private sectors”. “I know Mrs. Obama wants HBCU graduates to have the same “leg-up” or international edge. This imbalance is why there is an IERCEF, why there is a SAGE Consortium model, why we will be attending the HBCU Week conference (9/12-14)” adds Mr. Jones.

During the recent (8/23) NC SAGE Consortium meeting at Livingstone College: IERCEF, InteRDom (www.interdominternship.org) provider of the highly sought-after, 3-4 credit, 10 week international internship in the Dominican Republic which NC HBCU students will participate in next year, Mr. Meldon S. Hollis: associate director for the White House Initiatives on HBCUs and head of international programs including the support of the Gilman Scholarship Program were all on tap to underscore the new education abroad opportunities for HBCU students. “Since that meeting, we can now say that we will have access to 18 more countries via a new strategic partner with over 45 years experience and a leader in study abroad diversity” exclaims Samuel A. Brooks, Executive Vice President of IERCEF. “Beyond the traditional top four: Britain, France, Italy and Spain there are the “BRIC” nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) as well as destinations that reflect HBCU students’ African Diaspora heritage such as South Africa, Peru, and Costa Rica we intend to expand this list in the coming months” he adds.

With all that is going on concerning international educational opportunities for HBCU students, no wonder the recent concern for online. As Mr. Jones candidly acknowledged, “We have spent a lot of time, personal resources and energy developing what we felt was the correct response to an alarming imbalance in a global society, the SAGE Consortium Model. We believe in and support the “New Narrative” as articulated by Education Secretary Arne Duncan who praised the NC SAGE Consortium as did Gov. Bev Perdue (D-NC) earlier this summer. It’s all about aggressively increasing access, retention, degree-attainment and career-level success for students attending HBCUs and indeed all Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), thus closing the opportunity gap and raising the bars. An online experience, expands postsecondary reach, but must give its graduates an international edge and what the First Lady called a “leg-up” or else those graduates will be competitively disadvantaged in a global society by race. IERC Education Foundation’s SAGE Online is an answer.

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IERC Education Foundation: promotes study abroad through advocacy for the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act. IERCEF also develops study abroad programs via direct design or strategic partnerships with a specific focus on students of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Community Colleges and Public High Schools for the purposes of increasing: the proportion and demographic mix of U.S. students (and their institutions) who study abroad; increasing the talent pool of students with international competencies and knowledge of global issues, therefore IERCEF also advocates for Critical Need Language acquisition. IERC Education Foundation is committed to enhancing the degree-attainment, employability and global competitiveness of America’s underserved graduates.