It’s time to LEVEL UP & Get REAL for Black Learner Excellence
Dr. Keith Curry
“The precipitous, unrelenting decline in Black community college enrollment since 2011 is the canary in the mine for American higher education. Black learners, like other learners, are not seeing a valuable, welcoming, and career-connected experience in higher education today.”
From LEVEL UP
“State and federal institutions and policymakers at all levels have a responsibility to ensure that places of higher education are accessible and welcoming to all, regardless of a student’s race or background.”
If you care about the state of higher education, then you should care about Black Learner Excellence
Prior to COVID-19, Black student enrollments began declining precipitously, particularly at community colleges. Initial data analysis suggests that the students are not shifting over to the four-year sector—it appears they are choosing to leave the postsecondary education system or not enroll at all.
We collaborated with an Expert Advisory Committee to discern the research, develop and elevate policy recommendations, and to garner national attention and investment from those committed to improving the policies and practices in American postsecondary education that persist and contribute to declining outcomes for Black learners.
Black learners, and all learners, deserve postsecondary options that ensure the time and energy they commit to learning will leave them better off than when they started. For all learners, and Black learners especially, the value proposition for education beyond high school must be overwhelmingly and clearly worth the time, effort and expense involved.
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It is important to note that the data reveal troubling trends for other races and ethnicities that must be addressed as well, particularly for American Indian or Alaska Native students. Subsequent analysis of the causes of this decline will focus on integrated, holistic solutions for policy leaders and funders. This systematic approach is vital as we acknowledge the role that enslavement, systemic racism, oppression, and persistent racial wealth gaps play in access and success in postsecondary education attainment. Understanding and addressing these underlying causes, we believe, will not only serve Black individuals more justly, but all learners
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Data show that even before the pandemic, the starkest enrollment declines were at community colleges, which today represent an almost 44% drop in enrollment since 2011. These numbers are very concerning at face value, and are particularly notable given that community colleges, at their peak, enrolled nearly half of all Black students and served as a gateway for many to the high-quality credentials needed for entry to higher wage jobs.
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The COVID-19 pandemic certainly exacerbated declining college enrollment trends but it did not spawn them, with documented steady declines since 2011. Researchers and scholars have examined the data and written previously about the particularly concerning trends for Black individuals’ access to community college. But these data and documented trends have not been met in magnitude with attention or action.
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A National Imperative: Addressing Black Student Enrollment details the data behind our work, that shows that declining enrollments for Black students is a problem that requires urgent attention and systemic change.