- What are we promising our students will come away with from our institutions, and are we delivering on that promise?
- Are we devaluing the liberal arts degrees and programs?
- What will happen to student access as these policies are implemented?
- How do we address the policies, systems, and structures of our organizations to ensure students complete promptly and achieve their educational goals?
We have to be ready to answer these questions meaningfully, in a way that makes sense to our constituencies and communities. I know that community colleges will be able to weather the impending storm – we have always been doing more with less. That is our model. Community colleges must stay flexible, nimble, and adaptive. If we don’t, we will be shutting the door of opportunity to our students, which includes many people of color and the economically disadvantaged who rely on us to access a higher education.
It is a lot. As leaders, many of us have faced more than our share of challenges. As I enter my 16th year as a community college CEO, I often think about the “systemic gymnastics” many of us have faced in our professional careers. From my perspective, systemic gymnastics is the strategic, political, and operational maneuvering leaders must perform to transform institutional systems, policies, and structures that were not designed to achieve current goals or equitable outcomes. Unlike routine management, systemic gymnastics requires leaders to navigate competing regulations, entrenched practices, stakeholder interests, and organizational resistance while simultaneously pursuing meaningful change.
As it relates to racial equity, educational leaders of color often experience heightened forms of systemic gymnastics because we must not only navigate institutional and systemic barriers but also overcome additional scrutiny, challenges to our legitimacy, expectations of representation, and the emotional labor associated with advancing change in historically exclusionary systems. I’m tired of this system that still demands more of institutions that serve students of color, that demands more of leaders of color, that demands more from students of color. I call this systemic gymnastics not just because we have to make huge leaps and bounds to work around power structures and systems that don’t serve people that look like me, but also because we are being paraded out to perform before a panel of judges that decide our future and who also benefit from systemic oppression.
Anyone who has followed my career knows I have faced many challenges, but the opportunity to serve the community is and always will be my “why.” Knowing my why, I can be vulnerable and share that student completion and economic value must be our priority not just at Compton College but across higher education. Furthermore, practitioners, policymakers, and leaders have to lean into this work and not just talk about its importance from the sidelines. As a CEO and through our strategic plan, student completion is my responsibility. It’s been my experience that any reform I make will be criticized, and that’s why I’ve always taken the unapologetic approach, and I do so now as well.
As an example of how to lean into this work, since the fall of 2024, when people asked about Compton College, I have often said we are creating a new album, and the album is not a greatest hits album but about what is needed at this time to support our students. This work begins with Compton College 2035, which is our comprehensive master plan. Compton College 2035 has one singular goal: to accelerate student completion while advancing equity and success. Then we developed the Compton College 2035 Institutional Set-Goals and presented disaggregated student achievement data by age, gender, and race/ethnicity. Then we developed a methodology to establish program- and academic-division-level student success targets, promoting alignment and consistency across the College, and made public the Compton College 2035 Institutional Set-Goals Dashboard, and now the development of the Compton College Economic Value Model (More on this in a later thought as we are releasing it later in fall 2027). Ultimately, this work promotes alignment and consistency across Compton College.
During the fall 2026 Professional Development Day at Compton College, I was proud to share some of the tremendous strides we’ve made across the institution:
- Enrollment increased from 36% in 2024-2025 to 40% in 2025-2026.
- The number of dual enrollment students increased from 2,319 in 2023-2024 to 3,104 in 2025-2026.
- The course success rate increased from 68% in 2023-2024 to 75% in 2025-2026.
- The distance education course success rate increased from 58% in 2023-2024 to 68% in 2025-2026.
- Completion of Transfer Level Math in the first year increased from 11% in 2023-2024 to 16% in 2025-2026.
- Average units completed per academic year for part-time students increased from 7.6 units in 2023-2024 to 8.4 in 2025-2026.
- Average units acquired per associate degree is down from 79 in 2023-2024 to 77 in 2025-2026. This goal matters because we aim to reduce units acquired to 67 by 2035.
- Certificates awarded increased from 535 in 2023-2024 to 584 in 2024-2025.
- The number of transfers increased from 214 in 2023-2024 to 274 in 2025-2026.
I hope that list above shows you that we’re doing the work. Now, given where we are as a sector, my focus is just as singular. We must provide economic value for our students, and that starts with ensuring they can complete their educational goals on time. Recently, I announced that I would begin tying access to basic needs support services at Compton College to completion milestones by establishing Student Expectations for Completion. I heard plenty of criticism both within my network and from the outside about this decision – and I understand. But as president/CEO of Compton College, I must ensure our students complete their programs of study. Why not be concerned that students are leaving their institution without completing and, in some cases, in debt? The strides Compton College has made since 2023-2024 demonstrate that we’re doing the work.
Somehow, even with these strides, it feels like the pressure has never been greater because of economic value. No matter what state or region you are in, you are noticing that many Americans are hurting and seeking economic relief from inflation, wage stagnation, and the rising costs of most goods and services. This national sentiment adds another critical layer to the conversation around public confidence in higher education, and we cannot ignore it: higher education must adapt to remain relevant and reaffirm its role as a pathway to opportunity and prosperity.
I continue to monitor the potential sanctions associated with the Student Tuition and Transparency System and the Earnings Accountability requirements because many of our students rely on the federal Direct Loan Program and Pell Grants. If students cannot receive federal aid through these programs, many students and prospective students will not enroll at our campus, which will impact our funding. Because the Student Tuition and Transparency System, Earnings Accountability requirements, and changes to the Federal Direct Loan Program will impact funding, I anticipate some, if not many, colleges and universities in the United States will close. So, yes, I have a sense of urgency, and yes, this must be one of our priorities for Compton College. Developing Compton College’s 2035 Economic Value Model is a great start for our institution.
A great start is just that: a start. With increased pressure from systemic gymnastics, the prospect of a college closing weighs heavily on leaders and elected officials. However, this is not new for me; Compton Community College was the first California community college to lose its accreditation in 2006. When I became CEO, my first and most pressing goal was to restore accreditation for our college and our community, which we successfully achieved in 2017. I helped develop the closure plan for Compton Community College and completed the steps to achieve initial accreditation for the same institution.
However, Compton Community College's accreditation being revoked was not the first experience for a “Curry” as a leader of a higher education institution. Not many know this, but I am the second member in my family to be a president of a higher education institution. Dr. Milton K. Curry Jr., the first cousin of my grandfather, Millard J. (MJ) Curry, was the president of Bishop College, a historically Black institution in Texas. He led the institution through significant institutional, financial, and accreditation-related challenges (sound familiar?). He left that institution under a cloud of controversy, and Bishop College ultimately lost its accreditation after his presidency and closed in 1988; its history shows what a community can lose when an institution cannot survive an institutional crisis. I never want to see this happen again, especially in my community.
For me, this work is not simply professional – it is personal, and the ongoing systemic gymnastics is real. From Bishop College to Compton College, my family’s story shows both the vulnerability of our institutions and why this work matters. Still, for me, the added pressure is that I don't want my own family history to repeat itself.
What's happening in higher education right now isn't new. However, the pressure to lead is real, and it's important to recognize what is happening federally, in our different states, regions, and in our community. It's also important to understand that, right now, leadership matters, and the systemic gymnastics we're doing to support our students and our communities so they can realize this so-called “American Dream.”
In closing, “We Right Here.” Regardless of the systemic gymnastics, we must recognize that many practitioners, policymakers, and leaders are just doing the work.
Keith Curry, Ed.D., is the President/Chief Executive Officer of Compton College and Compton Community College District. This article is inspired by DMX's song, “We Right Here.”
