Indianapolis—Lumina Foundation for Education awarded grants totaling $3.4 million in the first quarter of 2010. These 14 grants went to organizations in seven states, the District of Columbia and an international organization.
“To succeed in today’s workforce, Americans must have more advanced knowledge and skills,” said Jamie Merisotis, Lumina’s president and chief executive officer. “By focusing Lumina’s grantmaking in three key areas—preparation, success and productivity—we move closer to achieving our Big Goal of increasing the nation’s level of high-quality degrees to 60% by 2025.”
As listed below, Lumina’s grantmaking reflects the Foundation’s commitment to three primary areas:
- students are prepared academically, financially and socially for success in education beyond high school;
- higher education completion rates are improved significantly; and,
- higher education productivity is increased to expand capacity and serve more students.
Preparing Students for Success
Bradley University (Peoria, IL)—$3,125 to help 25 students attend a symposium, “Transforming Public Education” and track the demography of attendees.
Central Indiana Community Foundation (Indianapolis, IN)—$260,100 to support the Summer Youth Program partnership.
College Success Foundation (Issaquah, WA)—$519,800 to ensure all students, particularly low-income, first-generation college-going, minority and youth with special needs view themselves as college-worthy and college-ready.
National Human Services Assembly (Washington, DC)—$5,000 to familiarize youth-serving agencies with KnowHow2GO and facilitate the sharing of strategies with them.
Ohio College Access Network (Columbus, OH)—$426,500 to fund strategic planning, implementation of that plan and re-grants for local programs that will elevate Ohio’s ranking in degree attainment across the U.S.
OMG Center for Collaborative Learning (Philadelphia, PA)—$3,200 to support OMG’s presentation of “Using Data to Drive Change” publication findings at the Council on Foundations annual conference.
Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN) - $750,000 to establish in Indiana the Benefit Bank that connects low- and moderate-income Hoosiers with benefits and work supports, including financial aid.
Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, MO) - $75,000 to help KnowHow2GO state networks develop and implement policy strategies in support of savings account vehicles for low- and moderate-income students and their families.
Supporting Success
Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (Chicago, IL)—$28,000 to support additional research on the use of Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) at community and technical colleges.
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (Paris, France)—$750,000 to assess the feasibility of cross-national comparison of higher education learning outcomes.
Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN) - $25,000 to increase sharing and application of college student access and success research and practices through two statewide conferences.
The Urban Institute (Washington, DC) - $499,800 to conduct a multi-year process and summative evaluation of Lumina’s MIS-Models of Success Program.
Enhancing Productivity
Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (Washington, DC)—$10,000 to support the 2010 GEO conference, “Unleashing Philanthropy’s Potential: Smarter Grantmaking for Better Results.”
The National Center for Business Champions (Denver, CO)—$60,000 to provide technical assistance and support to the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB).
About Lumina Foundation
Lumina Foundation for Education is committed to enrolling and graduating more students from college—especially low-income students, students of color, first-generation students and adult learners. Our goal is to increase the percentage of Americans who hold high-quality degrees and credentials to 60 percent by 2025. Lumina pursues this goal in three ways: by identifying and supporting effective practice, through public policy advocacy, and by using our communications and convening power to build public will for change.
For more information, contact Lumina Media Relations, at 317.517-3675.
[...] For a full list of Lumina’s first-quarter grants, visit http://www.luminafoundation.org/newsroom/news_releases/2010-04-14.html [...]