This playbook is a call to action for key players—postsecondary institutions, state policymakers, federal policymakers, and community and business leaders—to uphold practices and policies that reinforce the value proposition of higher education for Black learners and dismantle the structures that function as barriers to Black learner success. It is a tool for all to use in their respective realms while elevating Black student voices. Each stakeholder group plays an important role in increasing postsecondary access and outcomes for Black learners.

We know that a college credential remains the surest path to economic and social mobility for all, yet we accept that for Black learners, college has not always lived up to its promise. 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.

Black learners deserve colleges and universities that are designed to support their excellence. Twenty-six national higher ed leaders are pledging to advance this work through public commitments to LEVEL UP and collective resolve to elevate Black learner excellence as a moral and economic imperative.

Why focus on Black student enrollment at community colleges? 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.