WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new report on how to close the technology gap for the fastest-growing part of the U.S. work force calls for new investments in those colleges and universities with the expertise and best access to “emerging majority” populations.

“Providing equal technological opportunities to all Americans will not only have a profound impact on the U.S. education system, but also will have far-reaching consequences for the nation’s economic competitiveness, social stability, cultural richness and homeland security,” states the report from the Alliance for Equity in Higher Education.

The Alliance, a partnership of colleges and universities serving the largest concentrations of Hispanic, African American and Native American students, released the report at a briefing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. The report, “Serving the Nation: Opportunities and Challenges in the Use of Information Technology at Minority-Serving Colleges and Universities,” includes findings from the first national survey of all Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) focusing on information technology use.

“Certainly, we have much at stake in the Hispanic higher education community in this national call to comprehensively address the need to close the digital divide between minority and non-minority populations in this country,” said Antonio R. Flores, President and CEO of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), a founding member of the Alliance.

“As the country’s youngest and largest ethnic population, Hispanics will have a dramatic impact on our nation’s economic strength and security at a time when advanced technologies now demand the highest levels of knowledge and skills. This is true for all of our diverse minority student populations represented by the Alliance,” Flores said.

The nation’s Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) will be “critical players” in any efforts to close the digital divide because they are already at the forefront of every substantial effort to address technology needs of their students and the communities beyond their campuses. However, the report also points out that these historically under-funded institutions, serving a disproportionately lower-income student population, cannot succeed without substantial new funding.

“The vitality of the national economy will be linked to the nation’s willingness to invest in the capabilities of these institutions to prepare their students in the latest information and communication technology systems,” said a Foreword to the report by Flores from HACU representing HSIs; Gerald Gipp, Executive Director of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium representing TCUs, and Frederick Humphries, President and CEO of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education representing HBCUs.

Among the report’s recommendations is that Congress this year pass the proposed Minority-Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology Opportunity Act, which was passed unanimously last year in the Senate but still awaits House action. The bill would provide as much as $250 million annually in new federal funding for technology education at MSIs, which serve more than one-third of all minority college students.

The report calls for targeted new information technology (IT) investments in HSIs via the federal Higher Education Act and through the program budgets of federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation. The Alliance also calls for new state government investments in IT capacity at MSIs, as well as industry contributions specifically to fund IT innovations at MSIs.

“This report provides compelling evidence of the need to move our national dialogue about technology beyond basic concerns about hardware and software,” said Jamie P. Merisotis, President of the Institute for Higher Education Policy, the Washington-based research organization that prepared the report. “We need to focus on how IT is being used at minority-serving institutions, and why investment in them could have an enormous impact on the nation’s future workforce development.”

The report describes a digital divide reflected in the fact that while 70 percent of non-Hispanic whites use computers, only 56 percent of African Americans, 49 percent of Hispanics and 27 percent of rural Native Americans use computers.

Among the report’s other findings:
• Less than half (45 percent) of students at MSIs own computers, compared to 80 percent of non-MSI students.
• Only 65 percent of MSIs offer online admissions applications, compared to 92 percent of other institutions of higher learning.

Despite the lack of funding and unique challenges of serving large numbers of students on the wrong side of the digital divide, some MSIs have become leaders in IT outreach. Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in Minnesota is one of a small number of U.S. institutions offering degrees in computer forensics and e-crime. At Johnson C. Smith University in North Carolina, there are more than 3,000 Internet access points on campus, allowing for technology to be integrated into nearly all of the teaching, research, and service activities of the university.

HACU member Miami Dade College in Florida has used technology to increase student retention and success through the use of “tel-e advisors,” as well as online registration and financial aid information.

HACU member University of Texas at El Paso, the largest Hispanic-majority university in the country, is one of only two U.S. universities to establish an international Internet 2 link with Mexico. The university’s distance education programs have been labeled among the best in the country.

“Even in the time between the research for this report and its publication, dramatic cutbacks in state funds and federal grant monies have resulted in the loss of key personnel for UTEP’s programs. The university is having to re-think its strategic plan for expanding campus IT infrastructure,” Flores said.

“This is a severe blow to the efforts of a Hispanic-Serving Institution at the forefront of efforts to close the digital divide. It is also evidence of the very real and disproportionately damaging effects that current budget cuts are having on our MSIs because MSIs do not have the level of financial resources of many of our mainstream institutions to weather these cuts,” Flores said.

For more information about HACU, call (210) 692-3805. Ext. 3214. Or visit www.hacu.net. For more information about the Alliance for Equity in Higher Education, or to download a copy of the report, “Serving the Nation,” visit www.msi-alliance.org.