The current administration’s crackdown on universities sends a chilling message to young Black kids in public schools dreaming of college.
As the Trump administration marks its first 100 days back in power, its anti-DEI efforts have already begun reshaping higher education, weakening the systems and opportunities Black youth have long relied on to imagine and pursue a better academic future.
But with elite institutions like Columbia University dealing with funding cuts, abandoning efforts to bring diversity to campus, and largely remaining silent amid mounting political pressure, the consequences could soon trickle down to K-12 classrooms. Experts say it could mean fewer Black students seeing themselves as college students, fewer enrolling — and more arriving less prepared when they do.
“College has been a pathway of upward mobility for Black people since the end of slavery,” says Dr. Khalil G. Muhammad, professor of African American Studies and Public Affairs at Princeton University. “What this moment means is that those pathways are being closed. They’re being narrowed.”
Leaky K–12–to–College Pipeline
Even before the current political crackdown, the road to college for many Black students was limited by systemic barriers that left them less prepared. According to the 2023 ACT National Profile Report, only 3% of Black high school students met all four ACT College Readiness Benchmarks in English, mathematics, reading, and science, compared to 27% of white students.
Federal data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) also show that the college enrollment rate for Black 18- to 24-year-olds was 37% in 2021, but slid to 36% in 2022 — a decline accelerated by rising tuition costs, lack of culturally responsive counseling, and limited access to advanced coursework.
Beyond academics, Muhammad says, representation matters, too. But when colleges are pressured into rolling back, renaming, or abandoning DEI efforts — or aligning themselves with language that downplays Black students’ aspirations — he warns that it will impact their identity by the time they reach college.
“Black students today will experience a greater stigma, isolation, and alienation on college campuses than they have in our lifetimes,” he says. “The backlash isn’t just academic. It’s about their humanity.”
#EducationEquity #BlackStudents #CollegeAccess
