The flexibility and convenience of online degree programs have attracted minorities in droves, especially Black K-12 educators.

Universities that deliver most or all of their courses online have become the leading producers of Blacks earning graduate degrees in education.

The online trend is most pronounced among Black educators receiving doctorates, according to Diverse’s Top 100 Graduate Degree Producers. In 2006-07, four of the top five producers of Black doctorates in education were universities that offer mostly online or “blended” programs that combine Internet- and campus-based learning.

The overall leader, Nova Southeastern University, produced nearly 20 percent of the 957 Blacks who earned doctorates in education that year. Nova is a nonprofit, but the other three big producers are proprietary institutions — Capella University in Minneapolis and the Argosy University campuses in Sarasota, Fla., and Atlanta. Together, these institutions accounted for another 18.5 percent of education doctorates awarded to Blacks.

The top 10 in education master’s degrees for Blacks was dominated by universities that offer at least some online courses, including three proprietary schools whose coursework is taken entirely over the Internet. They are the University of Phoenix Online, Walden University in Minneapolis and American InterContinental University Online in suburban Chicago.

The pattern extends to bachelor’s in business, computer and health fields, but not in education, largely because public, historically Black colleges and universities produce 40 percent of the prospective teachers. With a 69 percent growth in online Black graduates in all disciplines since 2005-06, the University of Phoenix has moved within two to three dozen degrees of leader Florida A&M University and North Carolina A&T State University, which ranks second in educating Blacks with bachelor’s in any field.

Analysts say the narrowing of the digital divide in recent years has contributed to the growth in this online degree-taking, which further enhances flexibility and convenience — features that traditionally have attracted minority students to proprietary schools.