Home: Newsroom: 2002 news release archive: 110602

News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 06, 2002

Lumina Foundation announces nearly $10 million in grants to improve college access

INDIANAPOLIS — Between July 1 and September 30, 2002, Indianapolis-based Lumina Foundation for Education approved 26 grants totaling nearly $10 million to expand college access and student success nationwide.

“We are interested in supporting research and programs aimed at helping many more students achieve an education beyond high school,” said Martha D. Lamkin, president and CEO of Lumina Foundation.  “Our recent grantees are leading innovative efforts to help students cross the threshold into advanced education and finish what they start.”

Grants approved by Lumina Foundation in the third quarter of 2002 are listed below, grouped by theme.

Access

Many financial and nonfinancial factors inhibit college access.  The following grants address some of these barriers:

The Council of Independent Colleges (Washington, DC) $67,300 — An eight-month grant to commission a volume of essays by independent college presidents on “what works” in attracting and educating low-income students.

The Posse Foundation (New York, NY) $987,600 — A two-year grant to prepare for the nationwide expansion of Posse Foundation’s pre-college access program.  Posse Foundation works with inner-city schools in four urban areas and selects students who have moderate academic records and show promising leadership skills.  Students complete an eight-month series of college prep sessions and ultimately enroll in groups of 10 at top-tier universities.

Lumina Foundation generally does not fund programs in which outcomes are limited to individual institutions, except as part of a proactive grant program. The five grants listed below were awarded as a pilot program of the McCabe Fund. This initiative supports organizations that enable students — particularly first-generation college students, low-income students and students of color — to broaden and make the most of their opportunities in postsecondary education. The McCabe Fund provides modest, competitive grants for programs that work directly with students to improve access to postsecondary education.

Boston Educational Development Foundation, Inc. (Boston, MA) $97,800 — A two-year grant to expand the College Opportunity and Career Help program (COACH) from one year to two years and evaluate its effect on college attendance of inner-city students.  The program deploys Harvard University graduate students in the Boston public schools to help inner-city high school students attend college.

Norfolk State University (Norfolk, VA) $100,000 — A one-year grant to expand the Academy for Collegiate Excellence and Student Success program, a pre-college residential program to improve the retention of first-generation, underprepared students.  

University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, IN) $55,400 — A five-month grant to support preparations for “Fast Forward,” an academic enrichment and mentoring program that will prepare qualified, low-income eighth-graders for higher education opportunities.

Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN) $100,000 — A two-year grant to mentor Indianapolis Public School students, who have been traditionally underrepresented at Purdue, and encourage them to pursue careers in science, technology and math/science education.

University of Indianapolis (Indianapolis, IN) $100,000 — A two-year grant to expand the University of Indianapolis’ Bridges Scholars pre-college access and intervention program, which researches out to historically underserved students.

Student Success/Attainment

Once in college, many students confront stumbling blocks that inhibit them from reaching their postsecondary goals.  The following grants address issues regarding student persistence and goal attainment.

Berea College (Berea, KY) $329,100 — A three-year grant to document the relationship between labor, work and service in student persistence and success at the “work colleges” that participate in The Work Colleges Consortium.

Brevard College (Brevard, NC) $1.4 million — A two-year grant to support “Foundations of Excellence in the First College Year,” a program of the Policy Center on the First Year of College.  This project will establish standards for success in first-year programs, design a process that campuses can follow to measure their effectiveness in reaching these standards, and lay the foundation for an external certification process.

National College Access Network (Cleveland, OH) $124,500 — A seven-month grant to identify effective college access programs and prepare a national blueprint to build similar programs in areas of high need.

Multi-theme Grants

The following grants cross more than one of Lumina Foundation’s primary theme areas, which are access, student success/attainment, and nontraditional/adult students.

American Association for Higher Education (Washington, DC) $4,515,200 — A five-year grant to increase the educational attainment level for African-American, Hispanic/Latino and Native American students attending minority-serving institutions (MSI’s). Through this initiative, MSI’s will use data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and other appropriate instruments to improve teaching, curricula and learning environments for student success.

American Association of Community Colleges (Washington, DC) $305,200 — A 15-month effort to encourage higher education leaders and state policy-makers to help community college students gain access to a baccalaureate-level education and earn a bachelor’s degree.

Education Writers Association (Washington, DC) $197,000 — A two-year grant to fund seminars and fellowships that support reporters covering higher education issues.

Indiana Humanities Council (Indianapolis, IN) $436,300 — A three-year grant to test the impact of an extended family-intervention program on the college-going behavior of low-income and first-generation students and students of color.

The Regents of the University of California (Los Angeles, CA) $250,000 — A two-year grant to document the relationship between access program intervention and success in college.

Indiana-focused Initiatives

As an Indiana-based foundation, Lumina Foundation sets aside a modest portion of its grant money each year to fund projects that are specific to its home state. Most of these grants are focused on the Foundation’s education mission; a relatively modest number support charitable civic participation.

Citizens’ Scholarship Foundation of America (St. Peter, MN) $150,000 — A three-year grant to support the expansion of the ScholarShop program in Indiana.

Indiana University Center on Philanthropy (Indianapolis, IN) $10,000 — A five-month grant to advance philanthropic study and practice.

Indianapolis Downtown, Inc. (Indianapolis, IN) $10,000 — A four-month grant to provide general operating support to this civic organization.

Ivy Tech State College (Indianapolis, IN) $110,000 — A three-year grant to better understand student persistence and student learning by participating in the Community College Survey of Student Engagement initiative.

Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. (Indianapolis, IN) $10,000 — A four-month grant to provide general operating support to this civic organization.

Lumina Foundation generally does not fund programs in which outcomes are limited to individual institutions, except as part of a proactive grant program. The six grants listed below were awarded as part of the President’s Fund for Student Success in the First and Second Years of College, a challenge to Indiana universities to improve retention of first- and second-year students.

Ball State University (Muncie, IN) $100,000 — A three-year grant to develop faculty teaching skills in ways that will lead to greater student persistence and graduation.

Indiana State University (Terre Haute, IN) $100,000 — A two-year grant to increase student persistence and success by integrating Web-based student portfolios and “learning communities.”

Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (Indianapolis, IN) $100,000 — A three-year grant to develop two programs designed to increase the academic success of African-American and Latino freshmen in introductory courses.

Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN) $100,000 — A three-year grant to introduce a “multicultural learning” communities project and measure its success in improving the persistence of participating students.  

Trustees of Indiana University (Bloomington, IN) $100,000 — A three-year grant to increase student success at Indiana University Bloomington by fully engaging first-generation students in campus and community life through the integration of “service learning” into introductory courses.

University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, IN) $100,000 — A two-year grant to increase student persistence and success by transforming a large freshman lecture class in genetics into a highly interactive learning experience, with a special emphasis on historically underserved students.

Lumina Foundation for Education, an Indianapolis-based private, independent foundation, strives to help people achieve their potential by expanding access to an education beyond high school. Through research, grants for innovative programs and communication initiatives, Lumina Foundation addresses issues surrounding financial access, educational success through degree or certification attainment, and opportunities for underserved students. The Foundation bases its mission on the belief that postsecondary education remains one of the most beneficial investments that individuals can make in themselves and that society can make in its people.

For more information, contact Sara Murray-Plumer, director of communications at (317) 951-5493 or splumer@luminafoundation.org.