At yesterday’s Board of Trustees meeting, FAMU administrators received the green light to launch the university’s first online degree programs.FAMU is partnering with HBCUs Online, a subsidiary of Tom Joyner Online Education company, to tap into the rapidly growing market of online education. FAMU trustees approved tuition rates for three online programs: a master of business administration, master of nursing, and master of public health.
Hampton University, Tennessee State University, and Texas Southern University are also participating.
Media mogul Tom Joyner recently told FAMU faculty members that HBCUs Online is an effort “to take our students back” from institutions like University of Phoenix which currently enrolls nearly 200,000 black students.
On June 15, 2009, Rattler Nation reported that FAMU was in danger of losing its 12-year crown as the top producer of blacks with baccalaureate degrees. An article published ten days later by Diverse Issues in Higher Education broke the news that Phoenix awarded the largest number of baccalaureates to blacks in 2008. FAMU remains the top not-for-profit producer of blacks with baccalaureates.
Tom Joyner Online Education plans to spend at least $13M to provide services such as marketing, recruitment, technical support, and enrollment management for the online programs.
FAMU Director of Instructional Technology Franzetta Fitz told the The FAMUan that the initial slate of online programs will target nontraditional students such as active military personnel and former college students who were unable to complete their degrees.
The new online programs are part of President James Ammons’ plan to develop new revenue streams to offset the severe budget cuts FAMU has taken since 2005.