Brand-Building at Community Colleges
In an age of information overload, how do you tell the story of who your college is to students and your community? How do you take charge of your own narrative and showcase all that your college has to offer?
Featured Resources
Some highlights of Lumina's work
We're sharing tools and takeaways from our efforts to create a better-educated nation.
The Great Admissions Redesign
Lumina Foundation is seeking to work with states, higher education systems, and groups of colleges and universities ready to transform how potential students apply, enroll, and access their institutions.
A Stronger Nation
We're tracking America's progress toward the nation's 60% attainment goal.
Community College Challenge
The Million Dollar Community College Challenge team is shining a spotlight on the great work of community colleges around the country.
REACH Collaborative
We're supporting community colleges in six states to create short-term credential-to-degree pathways for adults who are Black, Latino, Hispanic, and Native American.
Changing the Narrative on Student Borrowers of Color
A collection of essays from student loan experts sets the record straight on borrowing among students of color.
Community Grants
Our community grants portfolio supports local organizations in our hometown of Indianapolis and around central Indiana.
Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Hear stories about how HBCU's help students thrive.
Tuition Reimbursement
Meet a few of the workers and employers participating in tuition reimbursement programs.
Lumina Impact Ventures
Lumina Impact Ventures is the Foundation's impact investing arm partnering with mission-aligned social enterprises.
Local Talent Handbook
A guide for local leaders to build talent pool in their communities.
I Want That Job!
A series from WorkingNation on promising career paths for early career workers
History of Federal Student Aid
A film series documenting the policy and the political origins of federal financial aid programs
Beyond Financial Aid
How colleges can strengthen students’ financial stability, leading to higher completion rates
State Strategy Labs
Lumina supports state leaders’ efforts to increase education levels by offering nonpartisan research, data, peer advice, and technical support.
Degree Qualification Profile
A learning-centered framework for what college graduates should know and be able to do to earn the associate, bachelor’s or master’s degree.
Lessons Learned from Year One of the Great Admissions Redesign
Aug. 28, 2025
Faced with a steep demographic cliff and a growing chorus of questions about value, higher education is wrestling with a somewhat unfamiliar question: How can the college admissions process evolve from gatekeeper to gateway?
Using Data to Redesign Postsecondary Admissions
Aug. 14, 2025
This resource examines the role of stronger data systems in addressing challenges and barriers students must currently overcome to access postsecondary education, highlights efforts states and institutions are undertaking to streamline the admissions process, and identifies best practices that have emerged in the field.
Supporting Adult Learners in Postsecondary Education
July 22, 2025
This study sheds light on the motivations, challenges, and successes of the strategies and practices used by a set of postsecondary institutions that have enacted institutional change in support of adult learners of color.
Institutional Change for Adult Learner Success
July 22, 2025
More than 82 million adults 25 years old and over have never enrolled in any postsecondary education, and another 43.1 million adults have some college credits, but no credential. Black, Hispanic, and Native American adults are disproportionately represented in both of these categories. But the fundamental structures and practices of colleges were not built with…
Admissions Innovations at the State and System Level
July 11, 2025
As the postsecondary landscape has changed, it is critical that the field develop a common language through the creation of a typology that can be used to describe the landscape of admissions innovations and the characteristics of each type as the basis to better understand their impact.
Strategies for Expanding Dual-Enrollment Pathways for High School Students
July 2, 2025
Getting a head start on college coursework in high school has become an even more important goal for high school students in recent years, due in part to the rising costs of obtaining traditional four-year college degrees coupled with the disruptions in learning for high school and college students because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ousted From Opportunity: Eviction’s Adverse Impact on Parenting College Students
June 26, 2025
One out of every five undergraduate students are caring for one or more children while enrolled in college. That amounts to just over three million undergraduate students, along with nearly a million graduate students with children. Many students, especially those with children, grapple with housing insecurity and homelessness.
College Affordability
June 25, 2025
Latino students in Texas make informed, pragmatic choices to afford college, often shaped by state policy and institutional practice, says a new brief from Excelencia in Education.
Investing in Students Parents, Building Stronger Futures
June 23, 2025
What happens when student parents receive the financial, institutional, and emotional support they need to excel in college? They don’t just earn degrees—they lead, innovate, and uplift their communities.
2024 NACUBO Tuition Discounting Study
June 23, 2025
Private, nonprofit colleges and universities continue to significantly discount their published prices for undergraduates, according to a new study from the National Association of College and University Business Officers.
Public strongly rejects presidential power over university enrollment, deportation without due process
June 18, 2025
Americans have much more confidence in public colleges and universities than in private ones, accorindg to a new survey by Vanderbilt University’s Project on Unity and American Democracy.
The Case for Industry-Specific High Schools
June 18, 2025
The urgent need to build a strong pipeline of career-ready high school graduates is growing rapidly, just as more parents, students, and employers are questioning the value of traditional higher education.
Student Mental Health on College Campuses
June 17, 2025
College students today often face a variety of challenges academic pressures, social and family stresses, financial/ economic hardship stresses, a rapidly shifting technological environment, an increasingly polarized political environment, and more.
The Student Voice Report 2025
June 17, 2025
For years, experts have predicted that the number of 18-year-olds entering college will begin a long period of decline due to lower birthrates after the 2008 recession. Now, that period—the “enrollment cliff”—is here.
For Many Student Loan Borrowers, Financial Security Feels Out of Reach
June 17, 2025
A new survey from the Pew Charitable Trusts shows that more than half of student loan borrowers consider themselves financially insecure, with an overwhelming majority (74 percent) of borrowers saying they had experienced at least one negative financial event in the last 12 months—such as not being able to pay the full amount due on…
Bridging the Middle-Skills Gap
June 16, 2025
The United States is facing shortages of middle-skills credentials (certificates and associate degrees) that provide pathways for early-career workers to secure jobs in occupations that are high-paying for workers without a bachelor’s degree.
How Faculty Members Influence Credit Transfer at Four-Year Institutions
June 12, 2025
Transferring credits from a community college to a four-year institution remains a crucial strategy many students must use to obtain a bachelor’s degree. However, effectively implementing this strategy can be difficult. Despite state policies intended to streamline credit transfer, students face significant barriers to having their credits accepted and, more importantly, applied to degree requirements…
The Economic Case for Emergency Student Aid
June 9, 2025
A growing body of evidence suggests that financial instability is one of the most common barriers to college completion and that, in many cases, students drop out due to relatively small, unexpected expenses. These findings have sparked interest in a promising solution: emergency aid programs. These micro-grants or short-term financial interventions are designed to help…
Emergency Aid at Scale
June 9, 2025
The four million student parents who make up the postsecondary education population in the United States face unique barriers to success that reach far beyond the high cost of tuition. Of these four million students, 43 percent are single mothers, nearly 10 percent of the undergraduate population. Single mothers with only a high school diploma…
Emergency Aid, Enduring Impact
June 9, 2025
Across the United States, millions of students are derailed from completing their college degree not by academic challenges, but by unexpected financial emergencies and the overwhelming costs of balancing education with basic needs. This is especially student parents. More than one in five undergraduates are student parents, with single mothers representing 43 percent of this…