The latest reports that inform Lumina’s work, as featured in
our monthly newsletter.
Quality Counts 2012
A well-educated workforce is widely viewed as the path to economic stability and competitiveness, yet new findings from this report show the United States struggling to deliver a high-quality education to all students. The report, from Education Week, examines how other nations get students ready for life after high school, plus the challenges U.S. policymakers face in improving American education for the demands of a 21st century workforce. More »
State High School Tests: Changes in State Policies and the Impact of the College and Career Readiness Movement
Fewer students are required to pass exit exams to graduate from high school today, but more states are administering college and career readiness exams and adopting new assessments based on the Common Core State Standards, according to this annual report from the Center on Education Policy. This publication provides state profiles of trends in high school testing, exit exams, college entrance exam policies, and college- and career-readiness assessments. More »
Western Policy Exchanges: The College Access Challenge Grant Program
This policy brief from the Western Interstate Policy Commission assesses ideas and practices that states in WICHE’s College Access Challenge Grant Network are using to increase the number of low-income students who enroll and succeed in higher education. This brief focuses on state partnerships, FAFSA completion programs, peer mentoring, and need-based financial aid. More »
Benchmarking Trends in Education Philanthropy in 2011
College and career readiness remains a top priority for education grant makers. According to this report, from Grantmakers for Education, nearly 70 percent of grant makers made “major investments” in this area in 2011. More »
Hard Times: Not All College Degrees Are Created Equal
College is still worth the investment, but employment opportunities depend on a student’s major, concludes this report from the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce.
The Role of Minority-Serving Institutions in National College Completion Goals
Minority-Serving Institutions have become leaders in educating, serving, and graduating low-income, first-generation, and minority students and, therefore, play a central role in improving U.S. college completion rates, contends this report from the Institute for Higher Education Policy. The publication is the first in a series of reports from Lumina’s MSI Models of Success program. More »
Completing College: Assessing Graduation Rates at Four-Year Institution
Colleges and universities need to consider a wider set of social, economic and psychological factors to determine how they can help students, especially first-generation students, remain in school and graduate, says this report from the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA. More »
A Guide to Major U.S. College Completion Initiatives
This publication, from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, is designed to help policymakers answer the “Who? What? When? Where? and Why?” questions about major national/regional college-completion initiatives. More »
Lumina Foundation/Gallup Poll 2011
Will increasing postsecondary-success rates lead to a brighter future for individuals and society? Yes, according to the findings of this Gallup poll. The survey, conducted in May 2011, shows Americans overwhelmingly believe college degrees are essential to jump-starting job growth and addressing the nation’s financial uncertainty. More »
The Impacts of State Performance Funding Systems on Higher Education Institutions: Research Literature Review and Policy Recommendations
Do performance-based funding policies improve institutional efficiency and result in more courses completed and degrees earned? This publication, from the Community College Research Center, examines the program’s successes and limitations in states that link appropriations and campus performance. More »
