In my book The Student Debt Crisis: America's Moral Urgency, I argue that student debt is not merely a financial problem, it is a civil rights crisis. The numbers tell a brutal story: Black borrowers are more likely to default, more likely to leave college without a credential, and more likely to carry their debt to the grave. What I have come to understand after nearly two decades of covering higher education is that debt without a degree is the cruelest trap in American education policy. And nowhere is that trap more dangerous than for Black students who enroll in college with hope and leave without either a diploma or a fighting chance.
That is precisely why what Dr. Keith Curry and Compton College are fighting for in Sacramento deserves every ounce of attention California's leadership can muster.
Compton College President Dr. Keith Curry leads the charge for Senate Bill 1348’s funding, ensuring that institutions centering Black student success have the tools to help students complete their journeys.
The Designation of California Black-Serving Institutions Grant Program is not a radical idea. It is a rational, overdue response to a documented crisis. Senate Bill 1348, signed into law in 2024, created a framework for recognizing institutions that center Black student success. California's Governing Board for Black-Serving Institutions has already approved 31 colleges and universities for that designation — two UC campuses, three CSU campuses, one independent institution, and twenty-five community colleges serving some of the most economically vulnerable students in the state. The designation exists. The institutions are doing the work. What they do not have is money.
That is what Curry is asking for. A one-time $25 million appropriation — $5 million for four-year and independent institutions, and $20 million in Proposition 98 funds for California Community Colleges. In a state budget that routinely runs into the hundreds of billions of dollars, this is not a fiscal mountain. It is a moral one.
Assembly Bill 335 was the vehicle. It passed the Assembly Higher Education Committee. It was then swallowed by the Suspense File and never advanced. The trailer bill language was submitted for the 2025-2026 Budget Act. It was not included. Now Curry is back — persistent, principled, and right — asking Governor Newsom, Speaker Rivas, and Senate President pro Tempore Limón to include this language in the 2026-2027 Budget Act.
They should say yes. Without hesitation.
Here is the inconvenient truth that my research and reporting keep surfacing: the institutions best positioned to close equity gaps in higher education are chronically the least resourced to do so. Community colleges, regional state universities, and HBCUs do the hardest work with the thinnest margins. They absorb the students that selective institutions turn away. They counsel the students carrying food insecurity and housing instability alongside their textbooks. They teach students who are the first in their families to set foot in a college classroom. And when those students leave without a degree — as too many do — they often leave with debt that follows them for decades.
The Black-Serving Institution grant framework directly addresses this issue. Under the proposed trailer bill language, institutions would receive a base grant of $250,000 with the possibility of supplemental awards up to $500,000 for demonstrated work supporting underserved students. Funds could go toward academic support, mental health counseling, career development, tutoring, mentorship, basic needs, and culturally relevant professional development for faculty. These are not luxury services. These are the interventions that research consistently shows make the difference between a student who completes and a student who doesn't.
There is also a broader context that California's leaders cannot afford to ignore. The federal government is in open retreat from its obligations to underserved students. DEI programs are being dismantled. Federal support for minority-serving institutions is under political assault. The Title IV infrastructure that millions of students depend on is being treated like a target rather than a lifeline. In this environment, states that believe in equity must step up. California has a tradition of doing exactly that. Senate Bill 1348 was evidence of that tradition in action. But legislation without resources is a gesture, not a commitment.
Budgets, as Curry rightly notes, are our statement of values.
I would add: they are also statements of courage. It takes courage to fund equity programs when budgets are tight and political winds are unpredictable.
Governor Newsom has signed historic legislation on education equity. Speaker Rivas and Senate President pro Tempore Limón have both spoken powerfully about California's responsibility to its most vulnerable residents. Here is a specific, concrete, legally structured opportunity to turn those words into action. The trailer bill language is written. The institutions are identified. The need is documented. The ask is reasonable.
What remains is the will.
California's Black students have been patient. They have been resilient in the face of systemic barriers that would have broken less determined people. They deserve more than designation. They deserve investment.
Include this language in the 2026-2027 Budget Act. Fund the California Black-Serving Institutions Grant Program. Make the moral urgency of this moment matter.
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Dr. Jamal Watson is a higher education consultant, professor and associate dean of Graduate Studies at Trinity Washington University and the author of this bi-weekly column. Watson is the former executive editor of Diverse: Issues In Higher Education (now The EDU Ledger) and is the author of The Student Debt Crisis: America's Moral Urgency (Broadleaf Books, 2025).
