All Eyes on Me: The Important Role of Community College Leadership in Workforce Pell Implementation

To elevate the voices of those closest to implementation, ECMC Foundation is launching a four-part blog series featuring perspectives from community college leaders, state-level community college associations, and workforce partners, whose coordinated work will shape how early Workforce Pell implementation unfolds. These diverse points of view help us understand the current and future impact of Workforce Pell and why it's so important to the postsecondary landscape.

This interview features perspectives on Workforce Pell implementation from Dr. Keith Curry, President and Chief Executive Officer of Compton College and Compton Community College District, interviewed by ECMC Foundation’s Senior Director of Policy Strategy, Ed Smith. The title is inspired by Tupac Shakur’s album “All Eyez on Me,” reflecting the heightened attention on community college leaders as they navigate Workforce Pell implementation.

Dr. Smith: Workforce Pell is a major policy shift in postsecondary education. From your perspective, what are the primary changes for community colleges?

Dr. Curry: If you’ve been doing this work for a while, for me it has been 15 years as a community college chief executive officer, you know that major changes in higher education are not new. What feels different right now are the changes in federal accountability around student financial aid. There will be a lot of changes coming our way from the One Big Beautiful Bill, like Workforce Pell, but also the Student Tuition and Transparency System, and Earnings Accountability rule. While these new pressures may feel like a tremendous shift, I am confident community college leaders will find their way through them if we double down on our efforts to improve student completion.

Dr. Smith: What concerns you most about Workforce Pell implementation?

Dr. Curry: Community college leaders across the country will continue to feel the pressure. As Tupac said, “All eyes on me” meaning, all eyes are on us in this moment to see whether we can successfully implement Workforce Pell.

There will be parts of implementation that are beyond our control, yet institutions will still be held accountable for the outcomes, particularly when it comes to meeting the 70 percent benchmark. How do we align the entire institution around Workforce Pell to ensure students gain employment upon completion? That’s the pain point for many leaders: when policy does not align with the current reality on our campus. To address this, as leaders, we have the opportunity to think differently and, in some cases, change our approach to innovation. Workforce Pell will provide us with the opportunity, but we can’t sit back and wait; we need to be aggressive with the implementation, and we have to provide opportunities for new or existing programs that do not meet the criteria at this time to meet the criteria in the future. Then, as leaders, we must fund those action plans through our yearly planning and budget allocation process at our institutions.

Dr. Smith: We understand the state of California is not yet ready to implement Workforce Pell. What should colleges do while they wait for state guidance?

Dr. Curry: My advice is simple: plan carefully and don’t rush into trying to implement the policy too quickly. Put your energy into ensuring that Workforce Pell implementation is strategic, thoughtful, well-funded, and supported at all levels of the organization

Regardless, when additional guidance is released, at Compton College, we would be ready to move forward. This week, I have asked our campuswide Guided Pathways Committee to establish a Workforce Pell framework and convene a subcommittee to strategically and rigorously assess data we’ve pulled on current programs and provide recommendations on how Compton College should implement Workforce Pell to align with Compton College 2035, our Comprehensive Master Plan. The work would be led by academic, student services, and workforce education leaders, and would include faculty and staff from counseling, admissions, workforce development, adult education, financial aid, and student support services. Workforce Pell implementation requires institution-wide collaboration; the discussions and work cannot happen in silos; it has to be institutionalized and should not be viewed as another initiative.

Dr. Smith: You have been outspoken about challenges related to workforce outcomes data. Why is that issue so important and why might Workforce Pell feel so consequential?

Dr. Curry: This isn’t a new challenge. At Compton College, we’re focused on doing all we can to define and deliver a strong return on investment and economic mobility for our graduates. That work began with a framework that takes a hard look at students’ earnings after leaving college. The framework serves as the basis for how we optimize and streamline programs in our efforts to bring access, success, and accountability together.

And still, it’s going to take more work to secure the student-level employment data needed to inform improvements to academic programs and student support services. I know other community colleges are struggling with the same issue. Now that Workforce Pell is becoming a reality, many community college leaders are asking the same questions: Will we be able to obtain this data, and if so, how long will it take?

I’ve been frustrated by this issue for more than two decades. Improving recruitment and retention are already hard enough for many institutions of higher education. Many of my colleagues report that students are persisting, despite struggling in ways unlike anything they’ve seen before, and these new policy demands add another layer of complexity to our mission. Everything we do moving forward must be connected to improving student outcomes and ensuring a successful transition into the workforce after graduation.

Dr. Smith: Some leaders are concerned about the accountability measures associated with these policies. How do you view them?

Dr. Curry: We have to be honest with ourselves and our communities. The status quo has not guaranteed success for every student who walks onto our campuses. I know this level of accountability may feel threatening to some, but we have to do what’s best for students. Saddling students with debt for a degree that’s unlikely to generate the income needed to pay it off isn’t right.

Dr. Smith: Does that mean the traditional mission of community colleges is changing?

Dr. Curry: Not at all. I believe strongly in the community college model of open access, where all learners—no matter their background — are welcome. This model made us an important backbone of our nation’s postsecondary and workforce systems. We did that, and we will continue to do that every day.

I look at this as a paradigm shift. What I described as the open-access model is Community College 1.0. Then we defined what true wraparound support looks like for students by addressing basic needs, providing emergency funding, and helping them stay focused on their programs of study. That’s Community College 2.0.

Now we’re building on those successes with a new focus on graduates’ outcomes. That’s Community College 3.0. This is our response to the important need to demonstrate how our institutions are fueling economic mobility and how our graduates are securing careers with family-sustaining wages. As community colleges and as leaders, we’re always growing and evolving—as it should be.

Dr. Smith: With all of the changes surrounding community colleges, are you optimistic about the future?

Dr. Curry: Absolutely. Community colleges have always stepped up to meet the moment, no matter what changes occur in higher education. For example, Compton College just launched Compton College 2035 and a set of updated institutional goals, to help us transition into the Community College 3.0 I described earlier. At Compton College, we have applied our institutional goals to academic and student support services programs, which positions this work with everyone in the organization and not just the chief executive officer or the governing boards. This is an example of how community colleges have stepped up to meet this moment. We have survived, we have adapted, and we will continue to do so. All eyes are on us, but community colleges are ready for the challenge.

Read the other posts in the series:

Workforce Pell: Implementation Challenges and Opportunities

Five Lessons Michigan Has Already Learned About Workforce Pell

Making Workforce Pell Work: Why Employers Need to Be in the Room