Indianapolis—Lumina Foundation awarded grants totaling $5.4 million in the second quarter of 2011. These 9 grants went to organizations in five states and the District of Columbia.
As listed below, Lumina’s grant making reflects the Foundation’s commitment to three primary areas:
Preparation—Students are prepared academically, financially and socially for success in education beyond high school;
Success—Higher education completion rates are improved significantly; and,
Productivity—Higher education productivity is increased to expand capacity and serve more students.
“These projects will help the United States grow, focus and redefine what higher education means in 2011 as we move toward Goal 2025: our collective effort to have 60 percent of Americans holding high-quality college degrees or credentials by the year 2025,” said Jamie Merisotis, president and CEO of Lumina Foundation.
Preparation (2 Grants)
- National College Access Network (Washington DC) $777,900 to provide technical support and resources for the KnowHow2GO state networks to increase the number of prepared low income students and students of color entering college.
- Editorial Projects in Education (Bethesda, MD) $475,000 to increase the awareness and commitment of educators and the public through coverage of alignment of learning between K-12 and higher education
Success (4 Grants)
- Center for Community College Student Engagement (Austin, TX) $450,000 to identify and support implementation of high-impact practices that increase degree completion in community colleges.
- Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (Chicago, IL) $400,000 to increase awareness and usage of LearningCounts.org to expand the use of prior learning assessments for adults through marketing and communications support.
- Campaign for College Opportunity (Los Angeles, CA) $350,000 to improve college access and success in California’s community colleges and universities by setting goals and priorities for increased educational attainment and implementation of new student transfer rules among public colleges and universities.
- Foundation for California Community Colleges (Sacramento, CA) $200,000 to support the work of Student Success and Completion Task Force to gain commitment to state goals for raising education attainment .
Productivity (3 Grants)
- The Institute for Evidence-Based Change (Encinitas, CA) $184,700 to develop and pilot an evaluation for Tuning USA.
- The Public Agenda Foundation (New York, NY) $1,100,000 to increase Public Agenda’s capacity to support state-level and institutional Productivity Grant efforts in five additional states.
- Western Association of Schools & Colleges Accrediting Commission for Schools (Alameda, CA) $1,500,000 to transform WASC’s accreditation process to assure clearer standards for graduation rates, levels of learning and degree outcomes using the Degree Profile.
About Lumina Foundation
Lumina Foundation, an Indianapolis-based private foundation, is committed to enrolling and graduating more students from college—especially 21st century students: low-income students, students of color, first-generation students and adult learners. Lumina’s 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.
