Illinois is failing to ensure equitable postsecondary educational access and outcomes for Black students. Our ecosystem enrolls, graduates, and employs Black students at far lower rates than non-Black students. In fact, only nine out of 100 Black students starting high school in Illinois will go on to graduate from college.

In July, Chicago State University President Zaldwaynaka Scott Esq. launched the Equity Working Group for Black Student Access and Success in Illinois Higher Education to identify actions needed to close equity gaps to enable Black students, families, and communities to thrive and survive in Illinois.

“For years, Illinois has experienced declining Black student enrollment in higher education. The decline is evident in the entire life cycle of the Black student’s experience and begins as our Black students graduate from an Illinois high school. Our data shows that our state’s higher education system has failed its Black students. Illinois will achieve meaningful and equitable access to college degrees for Black families and communities only when it structures an education system that provides open and equal access to ALL Illinois students. The Equity Working Group is committed to recommending reforms that will improve Black student access to higher education.”

—Chicago State University President Zaldwaynaka Scott Esq.

The Equity Working Group is made up of 45 leaders representing higher education institutions, government, philanthropy, nonprofit organizations, and corporations from across Illinois. Co-chaired by President Scott, State Senator Elgie Sims (Illinois 17th District), Karen Freeman-Wilson (Chicago Urban League President and CEO), and John Atkinson (Executive Vice President and Managing Director at Willis Towers Watson, and Board Chair of the Illinois Board of Higher Education), the Equity Working Group will generate solutions to achieve systemic and institutional change across education systems, community organizations, philanthropy, the private sector, and the State. The group seeks to answer two guiding questions:

1. How can we address systemic racism that shows up in our policies and change those policies to be equitable?
2. How can we collaborate and work across sectors to knock down barriers that have prevented our system from serving students and families equitably?

Civic Consulting Alliance is supporting the Equity Working Group through two phases of work:

• First, since July, we have provided project management support to create the Equity Working Group’s operating structure, analyze data to create a foundational fact basis, develop a meaningful, engaging virtual meeting format, and set a meeting cadence. Additionally, we helped define the framework for the group to assess solutions—seven key factors (affordability, institutional funding, institutional preparedness and support, enrollment and program choice, climate and culture, student well-being, and connection to career) that contribute to the disparity in higher education outcomes for Black students. This work led up to a successful kickoff meeting on September 10th.
• Second, from September through February, the Equity Working Group is meeting monthly in order to apply the framework above to understand the major divergence points for Black students in Illinois and identify potential interventions. Civic Consulting Alliance will continue to structure and facilitate the Equity Working Group’s meetings. Once all six meetings have been held, we will help synthesize their findings into a multi-sector action plan, including public and private sector policy changes.

“Chicago State University is immensely grateful to the Civic Consulting Alliance for guiding this public-private collaboration and its urgent work to ensure a more equitable higher education system in Illinois.”

—President Scott Esq.

We are at a pivotal moment for Black students in Illinois—a time of great opportunity (as public will to end racial inequity has grown) and great risk (as the COVID-19 crisis has heightened Black students’ barriers to attaining a college degree). At this critical juncture, the Equity Working Group’s action plan has potential to drive systemic and institutional change. The plan will inform a wide range of powerful stakeholders and initiatives, including the Illinois Board of Higher Education’s strategic plan, the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus’ agenda, the Illinois P-20 Council’s equity targets, the philanthropic sector, employers, and the education sector at large. This collaborative work is essential to rectifying longstanding inequities and ensuring that Black students are set up to succeed.