In the News
Watch now.
April 13, 2023
NBC4’s award-winning “The Conversation” recently aired an education special and featured Dr. Keith Curry, President of Compton College and Chair of Level UP National Panel and Martha Snyder, Managing Director of HCM Strategists, discussing Black learners and postsecondary declines (begins at the 13:20 minute-mark).
Listen now.
February 14, 2023
Dr. Keith Curry, President of Compton College and Chair of Level UP National Panel, interview on the Tavis Smiley Show.
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LEVEL UP: Realizing Black Learner Excellence at Community Colleges | CC Daily & Community College Journal
Keith Curry and Monica Trent from Achieving the Dream discuss the transformative potential of postsecondary education at community colleges for Black learners.
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Unapologetically building opportunities for Black student success | The Desert Sun
Keith Curry’s latest op-ed for EdSource argues for unapologetic leadership and commitment to supporting Black students in higher ed.
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Report Shows Decline in Black Students Enrolling in Colleges in CT | Connecticut by the Numbers
Black student enrollment in college is declining, according to our Level Up report.
In Connecticut, the number of Black students in community colleges has been declining since 2013…. And it is a national trend, as the Education Data Initiative reported Black enrollment has been down 13.2% since 2010.
Zakiya Smith Ellis, principal of the consulting firm Education Counsel, said lacking transparency around tuition costs can be a deterrent.
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Emancipating Higher Ed | LA Sentinel
In an LA Sentinel Op-ed, Thomas A Parham, Ph.D., president of California State University, Dominguez Hills, discusses the incongruence of what higher ed institutions support and intend with what Black students often experience, and cites the LEVEL UP and Get REAL framework.
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Leveraging Explicit Value for Every Black Learner -- Unapologetically.
The Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) feature on the Level Up work lead by Dr. Keith Curry, in their Trustee Quarterly magazine.
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The college-going gap between Black and white Americans was always bad. It’s getting worse. | USA Today
As the fate of affirmative action is being litigated in the Supreme Court, reporter Jon Marcus examines the growing racial divide in college disparity. Featured in both USA Today and The Hechinger Report.
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'It's Our Responsibility' | Inside Higher Ed
A group of researchers, college leaders, business leaders and policy makers is calling on peers in higher ed to focus on Black student enrollment
“Black enrollment peaked in 2011 and has been precipitously declining since that point,” said Martha Snyder, managing director of HCM Strategists. “This was an issue getting attention in the context of the pandemic, but not in the context of the systemic realities that face our postsecondary systems.”
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To stem Black student attrition, higher ed needs to make decisions with these learners in mind | Higher Ed Dive
To reverse a decade-long trend of attrition in Black college students, higher education leaders need to structure programs and policies with Black learners in mind, according to the Community for Black Learner Excellence, a new coalition focused on research and policy.
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New Network to Boost Black Student Enrollment & Completion | Inside Higher Ed
Inside Higher Ed Announces LEVEL UP & Get REAL Campaign for Black Learner Excellence, featuring 26 higher ed CEOs, academics, and leaders committed to unapologetically improving the postsecondary value experience for Black learners — and, ultimately, all learners.
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Op-Ed: When Black Learners Thrive, Our Communities Thrive | NewsOne
NewsOne Op-ed from Dr. Keith Curry: I’ve been at Compton College – and within the Compton Community College District – for nearly 18 years. “I have met and worked with countless students. I have also sat with countless CEOs and other community leaders. I know that if we do more to help Black learners succeed, we are helping our entire community succeed. This important work cannot wait.”
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Unapologetic Leadership for Black Learner Success | Diverse Issues in Higher Education
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.
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A College’s Best Business Decision Leads To National Prominence On Racial Equity And Student Success | Forbes
Compton College was in serious trouble. Because of significant financial problems and reports of corruption on its governing board, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges revoked the institution’s accreditation in 2005. It took 12 years to get it back. There’s a real chance that reaccreditation wouldn’t have happened had its trustees not hired Keith Curry in 2011 to serve as the College’s 12th president. This proved to be a really smart business decision.
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10 Top Black Higher Ed CEOs to Watch in 2023 | Forbes
Our Chair, Dr. Keith Curry, is among 10 outstanding college CEOs included in this unranked listing of 10 Black CEOS “who are indisputably among our nation’s best” in leading and innovating in Higher Ed today.
Related Policy News
Postsecondary National Policy Institute (PNPI)
Gallup Center on Black Voices
One in Five Black Students Report Discrimination Experiences (2023)
Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
The Chronicle for Higher Education
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