Racial Equality Achieved in Internet Access Among College-Bound Students; No Digital Divide Among College-Bound White, Black Students

4/16/2003

From: Richard Hesel of the Art & Science Group 410-377-7880 ext. 12 or Hesel@artsci.com

BALTIMORE, April 16 -- A national study released by Art & Science Group proves the so-called digital divide -- the disparity in Internet access by income and race -- has disappeared among college-bound high school seniors. In all major measures of technology equality -- access to and ownership of hardware, Internet access, and frequency of Internet use -- there are no differences between Caucasian and African-American students planning to enroll in 4-year colleges. These findings are being released in studentPOLLTM, a periodic, online research report that helps colleges and universities understand the attitudes and habits of college-bound students.

"In the midst of the current national debate over affirmative action and minority student achievement, these findings represent one bright spot," says Richard Hesel, a principal of Art & Science Group, an independent market consulting and research firm serving higher education. "They demonstrate conclusively that equality among college-bound whites and African-Americans has been achieved in at least one area -- access to and use of modern communications technologies. Students considering 4-year colleges, as well as colleges themselves, can be confident about the fairness of using advanced communications technologies in the college admissions process," adds Hesel.

Results from the national survey indicate that access to and use of the Internet is nearly universal among college-bound students planning to attend four-year colleges. For example, 94 percent of blacks and 97 percent of whites have access to a computer at home. An equal proportion of whites and blacks own their own computer at home (52 and 50 percent respectively).

The findings also show that black students tend to use the Internet more frequently than their white counterparts. Nineteen percent of black students reported that they used the Internet 11 or more hours per week compared to 14 percent of white students.

"Of course, the larger problem is getting African American and other minorities into the pool of college-bound students in the first place," says Hesel. "Access to technology among four-year college-bound minorities, while encouraging, says nothing about the mostly lower-income minorities who are not able to even consider college, much less have equal access to higher education."

The findings reported in StudentPoll are based on in-depth telephone interviews with a random national sample of high school seniors who plan to enroll in four-year colleges the following fall. To qualify for an interview respondents must have achieved a combined SAT I score of 800 or higher or a composite ACT score of 17 or more. The study sample is drawn and/or weighted to represent a national distribution of students with qualifying SAT or ACT scores by geography, gender, intended major, and income.

StudentPoll is published by Art & Science Group, LLC <http://www.artsci.com>, a national leader in providing market intelligence to higher education and the non-profit sector. The firm's clients include leading private and public colleges and universities nationwide from Dartmouth to Indiana University to the University of Puget Sound. Published online six times a year, Art & Science Group's studentPOLL provides in-depth market data rigorously conducted and analyzed to inform the strategic and tactical decisions institutional leaders and managers make about student recruitment. Archived online issues of StudentPoll can be found at: www.artsci.com/studentonline.htm