82% of HBCU Fighting the Internet Desert: An Institution’s Strategy for Change

Imagine trying to complete your advanced research project without accessing a stable internet connection. Or consider how difficult it can be to work on a group project if you keep getting kicked off Wi-Fi. For many students at historic black colleges and universities, this is reality.

Clavlin University President Dr. Dwaun J. Warmack shared a story about an email he received several years ago from students facing this situation. “My prayer is that Cloughlin's passion for education is consistent with her compassion. I am currently typing at local McDonald's, and I drive nine miles a day to do the job because my town does not have Wi-Fi bandwidth.” She said she will sit in the parking lot for four hours a day to write a senior thesis.

Shortly after receiving this email, Cloughlin University worked with the Student Freedom Program to help students provide broadband access.

According to a 2021 McKinsey report, 82% of HBCUs are located in broadband deserts. These broadband deserts are areas where sufficient internet or no access is available at all. Nevertheless, broadband plans aimed at ending the U.S. digital divide are currently in retreat.

In May, President Donald Trump announced the end of the Digital Fairness Act, calling it “racist” and “unconstitutional.” The $2.75 billion plan is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act of 2021. It was established to help end the digital divide by increasing broadband adoption. The program is also crucial to fund digital literacy programs in public schools and colleges, with some state and local governments already starting to receive grant awards. With the DEA's premature ending, these funds never reached their destination.

In 2020, students in Crufflin University and around Orangeburg, South Carolina struggled with insufficient internet access as they lived in broadband deserts.

“The only way students can really get content is to get together in the field of providing [broadband] Access that creates problems,” said Keith Shoate, president and CEO of Student Freedom Initiative, stressing that when students should be in quarantine, they are forced to escape from isolation, put themselves and their peers in danger, just to complete the school work.

Student Freedom Program is a nonprofit organization that aims to reduce wealth gaps through education. In 2023, SFI cooperates with technology company Cisco to provide 5G Internet services throughout the campus. While the Orangeburg community still faces challenges in the broadband desert, Clavlin University has since transformed its broadband desert into a thriving space for students.

The long history of HBCUs in broadband deserts

Access to enough internet connections enables students to do better in the classroom and beyond. But many HBCUs are in the broadband desert.

These broadband deserts are mainly located in the black countryside of the southern United States. According to a report by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Research, the Southern Black Rural Area consists of more than 152 counties in 10 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Tennessee and Virginia. This information almost matches the data in the Student Freedom Program.

As can be seen from the map above, Student Freedom Program is currently working with 25 hbcus in the broadband desert, all of which are located in the southern part of the Black Rural South of the United States. These include Tuskegee University, Florida A&M University, Xavier University in Louisiana and Hampton University. Understanding the history of HBCUS helps to better understand these broadband deserts and their existence.

HBCU is one of the most funded institutions in the country because of the influence of history and today’s systemic racism and practices such as digital red lines. The word red line goes back to the new trading era of the 1930s, when banks denied residents from “at risky” communities, mainly black communities, to qualify for loans. In this era, government agencies have created color-coded maps that highlight which communities have the least risk to loans.

Digital red lines are a discriminatory practice that involves Internet providers not including their services in certain locations. If you look at the map, you can see the difference between broadband and areas without broadband. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (PDF), residents in urban areas are more likely to receive broadband Internet subscriptions than residents in rural areas. In addition, more than 90% of households in southern cities have access to broadband access in 2021, while 85% in rural southern areas. Mississippi, New Mexico and West Virginia, for example, rank the lowest in broadband access.

Although the red line has been illegal for some time, there is still a digital red line, which is seen as a lack of competition among Internet providers in the South of Black Country.

HBCU is located in areas with insufficient broadband infrastructure, and in more than 15 states, these institutions have severely funded at least $12 million, to no avail. According to the Brookings Metro report (PDF), “HBCU has been underfunded for a long time due to underinvestment of state investment, lower alumni contributions (related to lower black income and black income and black wealth) and lower endowment.”

Numerous studies have shown that low-income communities often do not have enough home broadband connections. The McKinsey report previously pointed out that more than 81% of HBCUs are located in counties with median wages below the national average, and areas with projected employment growth below the national average compared to non-HBCUs. Why is this important? Improving broadband infrastructure will not only benefit from millions of disconnected Americans in HBCUs or rural communities, but can also help the entire U.S. economy.

HBCU's broadband access can mobilize the economy

There seems to be a wave of uncertainty about the current state of broadband planning in the country. Affordable connectivity plans end in May 2024, with more than 23 million households remaining without access to affordable home internet, and with the latest news about the Digital Fairness Act, disconnected Americans may rely primarily on broadband interests, access and deployment plans rely on federal funding. However, states encountered delays due to changes in bureaucracy. In addition, further holdings may be possible given the potential changes in the new government to the plan. According to some estimates, most states may not hear it on the schedule until June or July.

Shoes emphasize SFI's commitment to helping students regardless of where the federal broadband program is located in this country.

“We're still moving forward because the problem still exists,” the sole said.

He stressed the importance of moving towards non-federal sources to address broadband gaps among students. In addition to its partnership with Cisco on the deployment of 5G internet hotspots at Claflin University, SFI also connects these HBCUs to high-net-worth individuals, organizations and other philanthropists in the network.

This Student Freedom Initiative is in Philanthropist and Founder, Founder of Vista Equity Partners, Chairman and CEO Robert F. Smith currently serves as SFI Chairman.

Without federal backbone support, nonprofits such as SFI will work with the state legislature and its corporate partners to keep the wheels moving. Nevertheless, federal funding cancelled or stalled from this equation will slow down the broadband gap.

Claflin President Warmack conveyed that federal broadband funding can really help, especially for institutions with high underfunded funds (such as HBCUS). For example, Clavlin University received a $2.9 million grant from the Connected Minority Community Program through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which helped provide wireless internet on campus and surrounding areas.

Shoates insists that investing in HBCU and improving its broadband infrastructure could potentially increase economic activity by half a million dollars, which will be reflected in the country's GDP.

A strong HBCU network could increase black workers’ income by about $10 million, contribute at least $1.2 billion in incremental business profits, reduce student loan debt by $300 million, and provide additional consumer spending, according to McKinsey data.

Broadband access and future student achievement

According to a 2021 report by the Institute for Higher Education Policy (PDF), 13% of black students completed courses primarily using tablets or mobile phones, while 8% of college students were not. More than half of black students report that there is no reliable internet connection complaining that they can only access certain content online or that it is difficult due to slow internet.

Yvette Thomas, director of SFI's institutional transformation program, said HBCUS faces ongoing challenges due to the lack of high-speed broadband and digital gaps, which limits students' access to resources and online professional opportunities.

Thomas leads the implementation of HBCU capacity building, including modern information technology infrastructure.

“When kids go to college, they usually have at least five to six network devices, which slows down the network,” Thomas said.

Without access to high-speed internet connections, students can lag behind in the digital landscape, especially in a new era of artificial intelligence.

“There will be these 26-mile marathons and they will go into two miles … which puts them in a disadvantaged position,” the sole said.

He added that broadband access is crucial to students because it provides them with the appropriate digital literacy skills they need in their workforce.

Claflin University has since transformed its broadband desert into a space that provides 5G internet for students, but 82% of other HBCUs still live in these internet deserts? Who can say that no one else drove to McDonald's parking lot with Cloughlin's students for Wi-Fi just to get the job done? Without federal backbone support, the generous donations from SFI, its corporate partners and philanthropists are crucial to reducing the broadband gap.