POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION’S ROLE IN PROMOTING JUSTICE - EMBRACE INSTITUTIONS AS PLACE-BASED COMMUNITY ASSETS

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Angel

The paper frames postsecondary education as a place-based community asset that can advance racial and socioeconomic justice. It outlines how colleges and universities should embed in neighborhoods as community infrastructure—supporting access to jobs, food, shelter, and schools through transit and coordinated public services. It also describes equity-based principles for measuring institutional quality through economic value, intergenerational mobility, and fair educational opportunity. The document situates these ideas within a 2019 research series and a 2021 commission publication process.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Vision for How Postsecondary Institutions Can Embark on a More Equitable Path

Higher Education as a Place-Based Asset

Demographic Shifts

Employment and Earnings

Wealth

Housing

Infrastructure

Conclusion and Recommendations

End notes

POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION’S ROLE IN PROMOTING JUSTICE: EMBRACE INSTITUTIONS AS PLACE-BASED COMMUNITY ASSETS Andre M. Perry The Brookings Institution TABLE OF CONTENTS Vision for How Postsecondary Institutions Can Embark on a More Equitable Path ........ 2 Higher Education as a Place-Based Asset ........................................ 3 Demographic Shifts ........................................................... 3 Employment and Earnings ...................................................... 5 Wealth ...................................................................... 6 Housing ..................................................................... 7 Infrastructure ................................................................ 8 Conclusion and Recommendations .............................................. 9 End notes .................................................................. 10 This paper is one in a foundational research series for the Postsecondary Value Commission authored in summer 2019 by scholars with diverse backgrounds and expertise. The research presented in these papers applies an equity lens to the philosophical, measurement, and policy considerations and assumptions underlying key components of postsecondary value to students and society, including investment, economic and non-economic returns, mobility, and racial and socioeconomic justice. The Postsecondary Value Commission consulted this foundational research as it developed a conceptual definition of postsecondary value, a framework for measuring how institutions and programs create value and ensure equitable outcomes, and an action agenda with recommendations for applying the definition and framework to change policies and practices. Through this breadth of scholarship, the commission was better able to define the value of postsecondary education and the role institutions can play in creating a more equitable and fair United States. Following the May 2021 release of the commission’s findings, these foundational papers were prepared for publication. The views and opinions expressed in these papers do not necessarily reflect the positions of individual members of the Postsecondary Value Commission or the organizations they represent. The Postsecondary Value Commission along with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Institute for Higher Education Policy are deeply grateful to the authors of this series. The authors’ extensive expertise and thoughtful engagement in this work provided the foundation for the commission to develop an informed, innovative, and equity-driven framework. They also thank Deborah Seymour for editing the written products and the team at GMMB for their creative design and layout. Suggested citation: Perry, A. M. (2021) . Postsecondary Education’s Role in Promoting Justice: Embrace Institutions as Place-Based Community Assets. Postsecondary Value Commission. VISION FOR HOW POSTSECONDARY INSTITUTIONS CAN EMBARK ON A MORE EQUITABLE PATH Before embarking on a path toward a more equitable postsecondary education system in the United States, we need to have a clear vision of how we want colleges and universities to serve the neighborhoods and communities we are in. In this regard, theorists MacIver and Page wrote in 1949 in their book Society that “[t]he mark of a community is that one’s life may be lived wholly within it. One cannot live wholly within a business organization or a church; one can live wholly within a tribe or city.”1 And while one can live inside a university, those institutions are part of a neighborhood, city, state, and country. And to improve them, we need a vision of how colleges and universities should contribute to the broader community goals. A United States that has realized complete racial and socioeconomic justice would sever the link between an individual’s income or wealth and racial/ethnic background, such that all levels of the income distribution would includ

FAQs

What is the paper’s central argument about postsecondary education?

It argues that postsecondary institutions should function as place-based community assets that strengthen infrastructure and help advance racial and socioeconomic justice.

How does the paper connect institutional quality to community outcomes?

It describes quality as tied to how well institutions support local and regional economies and enable intergenerational economic mobility for low-income and underrepresented populations.

What employment, housing, and infrastructure supports does the paper associate with equitable access?

It emphasizes transit and new physical infrastructure, access to jobs and training through construction projects, and public services such as broadband and affordable housing coordinated with education institutions.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Angel