6 HBCUs Launch Course-Sharing Partnership

Course availability has long been a barrier to college completion, forcing some students to delay graduation when required classes aren’t offered—or even transfer elsewhere to stay on track.

In response, eHBCU, a group of six historically Black colleges and universities launched last year, announced a new course-sharing partnership last week that allows students to remain enrolled at their home institution while accessing courses offered at other participating HBCUs.

The consortium, led by Delaware State University, partnered with online course-sharing company Acadeum to support the initiative. Through the partnership, students can enroll in approved online courses offered by another eHBCU member without transferring institutions or losing progress toward their degree.

Participating institutions include Delaware State University, Southern University and A&M College, Southern University at Shreveport, Southern University at New Orleans, Alabama State University, and Pensole Lewis College of Business & Design.

Terry Jeffries, executive director of eHBCU, said the initiative was designed to address how course availability can affect graduation timelines and student retention, particularly for adult and nontraditional learners balancing work, family or geographic constraints.

“That was one of the reasons we partnered with [Acadeum],” Jeffries said. “To support students wherever they are in their journey, while still ensuring they can remain connected to an HBCU experience.”

Keeping students on track: At Southern University at New Orleans, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Bree Cook said the course-sharing model is already helping students maintain momentum toward graduation.

“We actually have a current student who is missing two classes, and one of those courses isn’t being offered this term, but the student needs it to stay in sequence,” Cook said. “We found the course, the dean approved it, and now that student will be able to take it online.”

She said the student will now be able to graduate at the end of the summer rather than waiting until the course is offered again in a later term.

“Instead of having to wait until fall or spring, we were able to get the student enrolled for the summer,” Cook said.

Cook said the model also reduces the need for course substitutions, which can complicate degree pathways.

“Instead of doing a whole bunch of course substitutions—which you try to avoid—you really want students to take the actual course or an equivalent that fits their major,” she said. “If it’s an elective we know we’re not going to offer because there aren’t enough students, there’s no reason students still can’t move forward. So the expansion of courses is really significant.”

Beyond course access, Patrice Gilliam-Johnson, provost and chief academic officer at Delaware State University, said students also benefit from success coaching, virtual student services, career counseling and culturally relevant coursework. She said those services are designed to follow students across participating institutions in the consortium.

“The wraparound support is significant in helping students be successful because that’s our goal,” Gilliam-Johnson said. “By working together, we can extend those supports across institutions and ensure students have what they need to stay on track to graduation.”

The bigger picture: Jeffries said the partnership with Acadeum allows eHBCU to expand course offerings more quickly and efficiently across member institutions.

“Our portfolio grew significantly just through this agreement, and that’s important in itself,” Jeffries said. “It gives us the ability to scale without having to create every course internally and absorb those costs, because we can lean into the course-sharing model.”

As a result, Cook said, the collaboration is less about institutional competition and more about ensuring students can complete their degrees.

“What’s so significant about the partnership is that we’re collaborating with each other to amplify what we’re already doing,” Cook said. “It’s not a competition. We’re focused on how we can enrich the learning environments for students at our respective institutions by working together and building together.”

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