In the News: Unapologetic Leadership for Black Learner Success

READ: Unapologetic Leadership for Black Learner Success by Dr. Keith Curry, President of Compton College

Published 12/8/2022 | Diverse Issues of Higher Ed

Since 2011 Black student enrollments in U.S. postsecondary education have been declining precipitously, particularly at community colleges, long considered a critical access point for students of color. This observation is not new. Researchers and scholars have examined the data and written previously about the particularly concerning trends for Black individuals’ access to community college and other higher ed institutions, but these data and documented trends have not been met in magnitude with attention or action. 

A degree or other credential of value remains the most important entry point to social and economic mobility and yet for Black young adults, it has become increasingly difficult to obtain and the racial wealth gap is only widening. Nearly two-thirds of Black young adults without a degree are earning low wages and are also not enrolling in higher ed. In his opinion piece, Dr. Keith Curry, president of Compton College, posits that unapologetic leadership, shared community responsibility and bold policy action is needed to reverse enrollment declines not just among Black learners, but all learners. Myriad recent public opinion data have shown that increasingly Americans from all walks of life, political affiliations and demographics are losing faith in the value proposition of higher ed. His piece addresses steps Compton College is taking to address these declines and introduces work he's undertaking with colleagues on the national level—and in conjunction with HCM, EdCounsel, Achieving the Dream, and Lumina Foundation—to use this data to inform a set of recommendations to redefine the college value proposition with a focus on Black learners.