Howard University Provost and Chief Academic Officer Wayne A. I. Frederick says the online programs enhance the faculty’s ability to “meet the needs of the 21st century learner.”
Howard is taking advantage of the ever-increasing trend to make education more accessible through online education while attracting more non-traditional students. The expanded offerings are a result of a partnership with the Boston-based Pearson Higher Education group and is being called “Howard University Online,” or “HU-Online.”
“Howard University has made the decision to launch HU-Online as part of a comprehensive initiative that will expand the flagship research university’s array of blended/online courses and programs,” said Don Kilburn, vice chairman of Pearson Higher Education. “HU-Online enables the prestigious university to offer in-demand degree and certificate programs and expand the reach of Howard’s faculty beyond the campus to students around the world.”
Howard’s goal is to offer 25 online programs over the next few years, with select online degree programs made available in the 2014-2015 academic year.
“This new initiative directly supports the university’s strategic priority to enhance teaching, learning and research,” said Provost and Chief Academic Officer Wayne A. I. Frederick in a press release. “It builds faculty capacity to enhance our instruction delivery to meet the needs of the 21st-century learner, as well as our reach beyond our Washington-based campus to the world through our new partnership with Pearson.”
Howard’s technological expansion will make it the largest fully online learning program at any historically Black college or university in the U.S. The university already offers some online courses, including a Bachelor of Science in nursing (BSN) for registered nurses and a doctorate degree in pharmacy.
Plans, according to university officials, are not to offer a massive open online course (MOOC) but, through the Pearson platform, will extend degree and certificate programs.
