News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 28, 2003

Lumina Foundation announces more than $2 million in grants to improve college access and success

Indianapolis — Indianapolis-based Lumina Foundation for Education has announced 22 grants totaling $2.49 million to expand college access and student success nationwide.

“As our recent grant activity demonstrates, improving college access and success is a complex undertaking,” said Martha D. Lamkin, president and CEO of Lumina Foundation. “Schools, businesses, governments, community organizations and philanthropies must work together to help more students achieve their potential in post-secondary education.”

Grants approved by Lumina Foundation in the third quarter of 2003 are listed below. They are grouped by the Foundation’s primary theme areas: post-secondary access, success and adult learners. Approved grants also reflect Lumina Foundation’s emerging interest in student access and success at the nation’s community colleges.

Access

American Council on Education (Washington, D.C.) – A $28,7000 grant to support the opening session of the “Educating All of One Nation” conference on student access and success.

Finance Authority of Maine (Augusta, ME) – A $194,200 grant to support College Goal Sunday 2004-2006 in Maine. Financial aid professionals in about 10 College Goal Sunday states help families complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The College Goal Sunday program was created by the Indiana Student Financial Aid Association with funding from Lilly Endowment, Inc. and with supplemental support from Lumina Foundation.

The Finance Project (Washington, D.C.) – A $10,000 grant to develop an action plan for projects to increase post-secondary access and success for emancipated foster youth.

National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs (NASSGAP) (St. Paul, MN) – A $10,000 grant to support convening activities and expand outreach efforts at NASSGAP.

McCabe Fund – The eight grants listed below were awarded as part of the McCabe Fund. The McCabe Fund provides modest, competitive grants for programs that work directly with first-generation college students, low-income students and students of color to improve access to post-secondary education. Grant proposals for this initiative are accepted by invitation only and span two years.

Advancement Via Individual Determination (San Luis Obispo, CA) – A $71,900 grant to prepare advanced placement students to tutor peers from underserved populations, thereby encouraging college enrollment.

Gallaudet University (Washington, D.C.) – A $75,000 grant to provide pre-college awareness and access services through a summer residential program to deaf high school students.

I Know I Can (Columbus, OH) – A $75,000 grant to expand access and support services offered to first-year students at 10 central Ohio colleges.

Larkin Street Youth Services (San Francisco, CA) – A $46,200 grant to enhance educational programs for 60 homeless, runaway and foster-care youth with a new component to increase access to post-secondary education.

Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (Oklahoma City, OK) – A $75,000 grant to provide pre-college access information to 15,000 middle and high school Hispanic students and their families through the federal GEAR UP program.

University of Colorado Foundation (Boulder, CO) – A $72,300 grant to introduce first-generation high school students to the rigors of higher education by academic preparation, including enrollment in a preview college course.
The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southernmost College (Brownsville, TX) – A $75,000 grant to increase higher education access for low-income Hispanic high school students by providing college mentors to offer guidance and academic advising.

University of Wisconsin – Parkside (Kenosha, WI) – A $74,700 grant to expand the Pre-college Program to include at-risk minority middle school students.
University of New Mexico Foundation (Albuquerque, NM) – A $75,000 grant to provide pre-college awareness and access services to middle school students at three new family centers in Albuquerque.

Student Success/Attainment

Social Science Research Council (New York, NY) – A $375,500 grant to promote pragmatic, applied research and policy solutions throughout the nation’s academic centers that respond directly to the issues affecting the transition to higher education and student post-secondary success.

President and Fellows of Harvard College (Cambridge, MA) – A $215,000 grant to study the impact of remedial education on student post-secondary attainment and labor market outcomes.

Adult Students

Council for the Advancement of Adult Literacy (New York, NY) – An $87,000 grant to support the work of a blue-ribbon panel that will improve the understanding and strengthen the role of community colleges in adult education and literacy.

Recruiting New Teachers, Inc. (Boston, MA) – A $255,930 grant to give teachers’ aides and the institutions that support them more systematic information to meet the educational requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Community College Strategy

Bard College (Annandale-on-Hudson, NY) – A $387,400 grant to improve transfers of Bard High School Early College graduates to four-year institutions and expand college officials’ understanding of hybrid high school/college programs.

League for Innovation in the Community College (Phoenix, AZ) – A $246,000 grant to conduct a one-year pilot to test and finalize the materials and procedures of the Certificate of College Competencies Program before its 2004 national rollout.

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.

Broad Ripple High School (Indianapolis, IN) – A $20,000 grant to expand the number of students who participate in the college-level curriculum programs at Broad Ripple High School.

Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. (Indianapolis, IN) – A $10,000 grant to provide general operating support.

The Trustees of Indiana University (Indianapolis, IN) – A $10,000 grant to underwrite capacity-building activities at the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy for 2003-2004.

Lumina Foundation for Education, a private, independent foundation, strives to help people achieve their potential by expanding access and success in education beyond high school. Through research, grants for innovative programs and communication initiatives, Lumina Foundation addresses issues surrounding access and success — particularly among underserved student groups, including adult learners. The Foundation bases its mission on the belief that post-secondary education remains one of the most beneficial investments that individuals can make in themselves and that society can make in its people.