- Advice for next president
- Measuring Up 2008
- From inputs to outputs
- College Board suggestions for student success
- Student loan aversion
- A model for accountability
- Earmarking and college affordability
- Promising remediation efforts
- Outcomes and gender
- College readiness and middle school
- The challenge of adult learners
- Data points
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Lumina announces fourth-quarter grants
Lumina Foundation for Education awarded more than $26.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2008.
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- In their own words
Hear first-generation students
tell what it takes to persist and graduate from college.
- MOA grants announced
Through its Making Opportunity Affordable
(MOA) initiative, Lumina Foundation has awarded grants to 11 states to further increase productivity in higher education.
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- Factbook on Latinos and higher education available
A new publication from Excelencia in Education synthesizes national and public data to provide a snapshot of Latino students and their progress in higher education.
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- Helping students score financial aid
College-bound students and their families will find free assistance in completing the federal financial aid application through College Goal Sunday events this month and next.
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Lumina memo to the presidential transition team
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Lumina recently provided advice on advancing postsecondary access and success to the presidential transition team, at the team’s request.
We recommended developing human capital must be a cornerstone of U.S. economic policy, ensuring that all children are prepared for college success, defining quality outcomes for postsecondary education and approaching college affordability in novel ways. We’re sharing our transition team recommendations and invite you to read them.
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Lumina Foundation supports state policy organizations, initiatives and research that promote student success in postsecondary education. The following reports can inform policymakers as they develop policies and practices that will lead to a stronger U.S. workforce, a higher standard of living and a better quality of life for the nation’s citizens.
Nation lags in college access and success
Other nations are advancing more quickly than the United States in preparing citizens for college success according to Measuring Up 2008 from the
National Center For Public Policy and Higher Education. The report card grades all 50 states on five areas: preparation, participation, affordability, completion, and benefits. It shows how income, race and ethnicity and geography are playing an increasing role in determining which Americans receive an education that prepares them for college.
Report encourages shift from inputs to outcomes
Nearly $90 billion is spent annually on higher education, yet U.S. college completion rates remain far behind other industrialized nations. Big Questions, Practical Answers
from the National Conference of State Legislatures calls upon state lawmakers to refocus funding strategies on the number of students who graduate rather than on the number enrolled and to create incentives for institutions that reduce the time required to earn certain degrees.
Education leaders propose new agenda for higher education
A report from the College Board’s Commission on Access, Admissions and Success in Higher Education
addresses the sobering reality that the next generation of U.S. workers is likely to be less educated than the retirees they replace. To boost college attainment rates, Coming to Our Senses: Education and the American Future
suggests more rigorous high school coursework, improved recruiting of low-income students, and increased financial aid.
Many students say ‘no’ to borrowing despite financial need
A new report from The Institute for Higher Education Policy and
Excelencia in Education explores why certain students are averse to college loans and the effect of those decisions on enrollment options and degree attainment.
Student Aversion to Borrowing: Who Borrows and Who Doesn’t offers several strategies to help students better understand the risks and benefits of borrowing.
A model system for higher education accountability
While more states use data to drive student success and accountability, no state is gathering all of the information potentially available, says
Ready To Assemble: A Model State Higher Education Accountability System from the Education Sector. The report provides guidelines for designing a model state higher education accountability system.
Earmarking to keep higher education affordable
In an economic downturn, colleges and universities are often first in line for reduced state support. A recent policy brief from the
American Association of State Colleges and Universities examines how states are using dedicated funding sources, or earmarking, to compensate for budget cuts to higher education. | | | |
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Promising reforms in developmental education
Remedial programs often are the glue that hold students together academically helping them persist and attain a college degree. Promising Instructional Reforms in Developmental Education
from MDRC examines remediation interventions of three
Achieving the Dream community colleges and their impact on student engagement and academic outcomes.
Outcome differences by developmental status and gender
A recent analysis suggests that male and female students experience developmental education differently. The latest issue of
Data Notes, an Achieving the Dream publication, shows female students are more likely to persist and outperform their male counterparts; earn higher grade-point averages; complete more credits attempted; and persist into the second term and second and third years. | | | |
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College readiness starts early
Two studies draw a link between rigorous coursework in middle school and college readiness. The Forgotten Middle from
ACT, Inc. says students who aren’t on track for college and career readiness by eighth grade will face an uphill battle to attain that level of readiness by high school graduation. The findings are reinforced in a
From High School to the Future from the
Consortium on Chicago School Research, which shows students who earned average scores in eighth grade had a one-in-four chance of scoring high enough on the ACT to get into college.
Schools must make all students college-ready, paper argues
Schools must stop seeing high school graduation as their ultimate goal and start seeing themselves as a launch pad for college and career success, according to a recent white paper,
High Schools as Launch Pads: How College-Going Culture Improves Graduation Rates in Low-Income High Schools, published by College Summit. The paper advocates adopting college proficiency as a key measure of success for the school.
Retooling for adult learners
Too many colleges and universities have outdated and one-dimensional views of postsecondary offerings for adults aged 55 and older, concludes a new report by the American Council on Education. To broaden adult participation in higher education,
Mapping New Directions: Higher Education for Older Adults recommends expanding new-career transition programs and adapting current financial aid models to better suit the unique needs of older learners. | |
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