Lumina’s big goal calls for increasing the proportion of Americans with high-quality degrees and credentials to 60 percent by the year 2025.
To meet this, the nation must boost the number of college degree holders among traditionally underserved students: low-income students, students of color, first-generation students and adult learners.
Attainment | The taxpayer benefits of education
Increases in educational attainment yield significant benefits to taxpayers. For example, if a U.S.-born Hispanic man were to complete college rather than drop out of high school, the discounted present values (2002 dollars) of the costs and benefits that taxpayers would receive equals about $228,000. Read
The Benefits to Taxpayers From Increases in Students’ Educational Attainment, from
Rand Education.
A sense of urgency | Marginalized males of color
Historically marginalized males of color remain underrepresented in higher education. These disparities affect an entire generation of young men and prevent the nation from tapping a potential pool of talent needed to compete globally and improve the economy at home.
Higher Education Success Among Historically Marginalized Males, by Loren Harris, examines the core issues responsible for higher education attainment gaps among this group. Also,
hear what Harris says about Lumina’s big goal and listen to this podcast.
Equity | Black males left behind, study says
The pipeline to prison is disproportionately filled by young Black men ages 16 to 24. Approximately 23 of every 100 young Black male dropouts are in jail or prison, according to
The Consequences of Dropping Out of High School, from the
Center for Labor Market Studies. The report advocates a national dropout strategy that will support programs to re-enroll existing high school dropouts, allow them to improve their academic achievement skills, and bolster their employability.
The concept of measuring learning entails more than testing students’ recall and understanding of facts, formulas, theories and processes. It’s about mastering the skills required to constantly know more - and to use
what we know with the knowledge and skills acquired.
Learning defined | Merisotis delivers keynote address
What exactly are students learning in higher education? What should they be learning? What knowledge, skills, and competencies must they have to thrive both as workers in the 21st century global economy and as productive citizens in this democracy? Jamie Merisotis, president and CEO of Lumina Foundation, challenges American higher education to tackle these urgent questions in his provocative recent Claremont Graduate University Bowen Lecture. In this lecture,
Merisotis says that higher education must provide clear and transparent answers to these questions–to students, to employers, and to the public. He argues that what students know, understand, and are able to do with a college degree or credential must be recognized as the primary measure of quality in higher education.
Read or view
Merisotis’ speech, It’s the Learning, Stupid!
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critical outcomes
lead to achievement
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Preparation |
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Students are prepared academically, financially and socially for success in education beyond high school. |
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Success |
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Higher education attainment rates are improved significantly. |
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Productivity |
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Higher education productivity is increased to expand capacity and serve more students. |
College readiness | Aligning K-12 with college
Better alignment between K-12 and postsecondary education can jumpstart stagnant college completion rates and high postsecondary remediation rates. Progress and Gaps in College Preparation Policy, an
Education Commission of the States Perspective white paper, reviews how well states are using policy levers to reform the system and improve college success.
Access | Common core state standards
A common core of state standards provides a roadmap of the knowledge and skills students should have to succeed in college. Recently, the
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the
Council of Chief State School Officers released the first
draft of the college- and career-readiness standards in English-language arts and mathematics as part of the
Common Core State Standards Initiative.
Preparation | ACT profiles states’ future workforce
Many students aren’t ready to pursue career opportunities in future high-growth fields requiring a two-year degree or more, reports a state-specific analysis from ACT
. For each of the projected five fastest-growing career fields, more than half of the nation’s 2009 ACT-tested high school graduates interested in careers in those fields did not meet the College Readiness Benchmarks in mathematics and science. Read the College and Career Readiness reports for each state.
Culture of evidence | Using data to improve outcomes
Data can strengthen college access and success programs and support broader changes to improve student experiences. A Lumina Foundation report,
Results and Reflections, provides lessons learned through the Partnerships for College Access and Success and McCabe Fund evaluations. Prepared by the
OMG Center for Collaborative Learning, the guide offers practical information to inform policymakers and others about using data to ease students’ path to college.
Access | Study examines what works in financial aid
When it comes to helping more needy students attend college, simple is best, concludes
Into College, Out of Poverty? Policies to Increase Postsecondary Attainment of the Poor. This study from the
National Bureau of Economic Research finds that financial aid programs are most effective when money is linked to incentives and/or academic support services for students.
Public policy | Policy’s role in college completion
When students don’t complete their educational goals, substantial losses are borne for the student, the state, and society.
Making the Connections: Connecting State and Institutional Policies to Improve Student Success, from
Vanderbilt University, examines how state and institutional activities intersect to influence student retention and college completion.
Degree completion | Indicators of success
Understanding the patterns by which students make, or fail to make, progress toward college completion is vital to the national mobilization to improve student outcomes. Steps to Success, from the
Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy, provides a framework to help educators use tools to improve outcomes for community college students.
Research | Federal loans by the number
Federal loans can help to bridge the college funding gap when family income, savings, grants, and work-study fall short. Yet, roughly 900,000 community college students are forced to postpone college or find new sources of funding because their institutions do not participate in federal loan programs.
Getting With the Program: Community College Students Need Access to Federal Loans, from
The Project on Student Debt, examines why some community colleges shun the federal loan program and how their decisions impact students.
Culture of evidence | Data and student outcomes
When colleges develop a “culture of evidence,” faculty, staff, and administrators review data on student outcomes to identify areas for reform; develop, implement and evaluate strategies for improvement; and institutionalize those that yield evidence of increasing student success. In this MDRC
case study, Guilford Technical Community College offers insight on helping students succeed by using data on student outcomes to make better-informed decisions. Read Building Student Success From the Ground Up.
Attainment | The college completion-savings link
The effects of saving for college are more than financial, says a study from the
Center for Social Development.
Assets and Liabilities, Educational Expectations, and Children’s College Degree Attainment shows that small amounts of college savings have a positive impact on the behaviors and expectations of students and their parents, especially for low-income families. Ultimately, they may serve to influence educational attainment and college completion.
Effective practices | State strategies for student success
Despite the economic downturn, governors have an opportunity through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to make bold reforms in education. A report from the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the
James B. Hunt, Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy examines how governors can maximize ARRA funds to improve education in their states. Read
Perfecting the Formula: Effective Strategies = Educational Success.
Persistence | Who ‘stops out’ and why?
Research suggests that students who complete only a few credits are less likely to persist through the second year than are students who accumulate more credits. The latest issue of Data Notes, from
Achieving the Dream, reports on this late stop-out phenomenon of students. Findings suggest that colleges need to work with students after the first year to increase retention, transfer, and/or credential completion.
Affordability | College costs continue to go up
The average annual cost of tuition and fees at four-year public colleges rose 6.5 percent from last year, according to Trends in College Pricing 2009, from the
College Board. Including room and board, the average total cost of attendance is $15,213, up 5.9 percent from last year. College Board’s companion report,
Trends in Student Aid 2009, documents how students are paying for these rising college costs.
Workforce needs | Employees’ skills don’t match up
American workers’ unmet need for further education and training is exacerbating today’s unemployment problem and portends long-term challenges for workers and businesses even after the economy recovers, says a survey from the Business Roundtable’s
Springboard Project. Read The American Workforce survey.
Equity | Investing in human capital
A new
report from the Workforce Strategy Center
highlights programs in 14 communities that are successfully addressing the challenge of providing disadvantaged young adults with the technical and postsecondary education that may qualify them for skilled positions.
Attainment | Community college grads in demand
Tomorrow’s job market will demand more community college graduates, and those who earn associate degrees will be rewarded with growing salaries.
A Matter of Degrees: Tomorrow’s Fastest Growing Jobs and Why Community College Graduates Will Get Them, from the
Democratic Leadership Council, examines where the American job market is expected to grow as the nation moves out of a recession.
High-quality degrees | E.U., U.S. tackle education reforms
The first-ever EU-US Education Policy Forum concluded in October, with the
European Commission and the U.S. Department of Education
committing to cooperate and exchange best practices in higher education for disadvantaged groups. Both sides also agreed to engage in a joint EU-US Tuning project. A joint EU-US statement acknowledges the importance of Tuning USA
, launched this year by Lumina Foundation. Tuning USA is a faculty-led pilot project designed to define what students must know, understand and be able to demonstrate after completing a degree in a specific field.
data points
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Workforce projections
Based on retirement, dropout, skill, and demographic figures, the U.S. Department of Labor predicts a labor shortage of more than 35 million skilled and educated workers over the next 30 years. Source:
Employers, Low-Income Young Adults, and Postsecondary Credentials: A Practical Typology for Business, Education, and Community Leaders »
Income and high school dropouts
Students living in low-income families were approximately 10 times more likely to drop out of high school between 2006 and 2007 than students living in high-income families. Source:
High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 2007 »
Financial aid at a glance
Sixty-one percent of college financial aid offices saw a 10-percent-or-greater increase in the number of financial aid applications received for the 2009-2010 award year, compared with the 2008-2009. Source:
Institutional Aid Survey »
Reframing unemployment rates
An analysis of 2008 unemployment rates shows 54 percent of high school dropouts ages 16 to 24 were jobless, compared with 32 percent for high school graduates of the same age, and 13 percent for those with a college degree. Source:
The Consequences of Dropping Out of High School »
Access denied
African-American and Native-American students are twice as likely as other students to lack access to federal student loans. Source:
Getting With the Program: Community College Students Need Access to Federal Loans » | | |
