Report Shows Decline in Black Students Enrolling in Colleges in CT

Black student enrollment in college is declining, according to a recent report. The Lumina Foundation's Level Up report found more than 300,000 Black students have disappeared from community colleges over the last two decades.

In Connecticut, the number of Black students in community colleges has been declining since 2013, according to the Community College Research Center. 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.

"Thinking about the affordability of programs for students," Smith Ellis urged. "That means telling them in clear terms what it will cost them as a bottom line to attend college, but also have that cost be based on realistically what can people afford to pay."

Black student enrollment in college is declining, according to a recent report. The Lumina Foundation's Level Up report found more than 300,000 Black students have disappeared from community colleges over the last two decades.

She noted there are additional costs beyond tuition such as addressing mental health, transportation, and child-care needs. A 2023 Gallup-Lumina Foundation poll found 11% of Black students are parents or guardians of children younger than 18.

Accessing affordable child care can be an issue. The Economic Policy Institute showed the average annual costs of infant child care in Connecticut is more than $15,000, equaling almost $1,300 a month.

The Level Up report outlined several solutions, such as retraining educators to be more inclusive and culturally competent to better understand the learning experiences of Black students.

Smith Ellis emphasized policymakers and other community leaders have a role in providing social support for Black learners.

"We need states, the federal government, our nation's colleges and universities and leaders in the community," Smith Ellis contended. "As well as philanthropy and business to be unapologetic leaders for Black learner excellence."

In addition to intrusive advising, she believes clear pathways to good high-wage jobs will be able to reverse this trend. According to Level Up, if every Black adult with a high school diploma or GED earned as much as a Black college graduate, the collective additional earnings would equal around $222 billion more, which is larger than the total economy for 19 different states and the District of Columbia.

This story written and reported by Edwin J. Viera of the Connecticut News Service, a statewide news service for Connecticut.  Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.