Who is most impacted by the digital divide in Louisiana?
Statewide, the digital divide disproportionately affects:
- residents from rural areas (46% of Louisianans)
- individuals who are members of a racial or ethnic minority group (43%)
- low-income households (29% of residents live in households with income not more than 150% of the poverty level)
- older adults (24% aged 60 or over)
- individuals with a language barrier (21.2%)
- English learners (3%)
- individuals who have low levels of literacy (27%)
- individuals with disabilities (17%)
- veterans (5%)
- incarcerated individuals (1%)
This national data can be visualized using the Digital Equity Act Population Viewer (U.S. Census Bureau and NTIA).
How are Louisiana's college students impacted by the digital divide?
Louisiana Data
Comprehensive data on the digital divide's impact on Louisiana's college students, faculty, and staff is limited.
A recent Board of Regents report, Louisiana Forward: Online Learning in Louisiana's Higher Education Landscape (2024), a survey of students enrolled in online-only courses at Louisiana public institutions and their instructors, provides some insights:
- One-third of students have experienced technology-related challenges affecting their success in online classrooms.
- Only 53% of students use a desktop or laptop to access online coursework.
Louisiana instructors report that incarcerated college students have limited access to the internet, devices, and support to learn how to use both.
Further research is needed to fully understand the digital technology barriers faced by college students in Louisiana, particularly regarding access to robust and affordable internet, appropriate devices, and digital skills. Below are national data that can be instructive as colleges and universities in Louisiana develop digital opportunity initiatives.
National Data
- Access to hardware, software, and internet connectivity is a predictor of student success (Warden et al., 2022).
- Lack of institutional support services and students' struggles with technology led to 18% of community college students dropping out, highlighting technology struggles as a persistence and retention issue in higher education (Mejri & Borawski, 2023).
- Findings from a national survey by The Chronicle of Higher Education of more than 1,200 faculty, higher education leaders, and students found that:
- 78% of students said colleges strongly contributed to their digital proficiency.
- 85% of students said digital skills should be a bigger part of their curriculum.
- 36% of faculty and leaders think their college instructors are “somewhat unprepared” or “not at all prepared” to teach digital skills.
- Only 32% of students feel “very well” prepared to use digital technology in their future jobs.
- Approximately one in five community college students who left school during the pandemic reported not having reliable access to high-speed internet. (Institute of Higher Education Policy (PDF, 1.4MB), 2021)
- 13 percent of Black students primarily use a tablet or cell phone to complete their coursework, compared to
just 8 percent of all college students. (Institute of Higher Education Policy (PDF, 1.4MB), 2021)
- Over 50 percent of student caregivers and over 30 percent of Latinx students reported sometimes, frequently, or always sharing a device used to complete coursework compared to only 21 percent of White students. (Institute of Higher Education Policy (PDF, 1.4MB), 2021)
- 20% of college students had difficulty maintaining access to technology. These hardships were associated with lower grade-point averages, the research found, and were disproportionately experienced by students of color and lower-income students. (Gonzales, et al., 2018)
