Karen Meza filling a paper bag at a farmers' market. A button on her yellow sweater reads Love Trumps Hate.
Today's Student Icon

Today’s Students

Contrary to widely held belief, most college students are older adults—not recent high school graduates.

Today’s students are more likely than in the past to be Black, Hispanic, Latino, or Native American. Many are from low-income families. These nontraditional students are in college or are pursuing training after high school. Many are older adults with college experience who did not finish their degrees and certificate programs or earn industry-recognized certifications in IT, skilled trades, or licensed professions. These students are often caregivers for parents and children, work full or part time, and have trouble securing health insurance, meeting transportation needs, lining up childcare, feeding and clothing their families, and finding stable housing.

Only about one-fifth of U.S. undergraduates attend residential colleges and universities. Most of today’s students go to community colleges, public universities, open-access private colleges, and minority-serving institutions such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal College and Universities, and Hispanic-Serving Institutions. These institutions accept more students who apply, focus on teaching and learning, and help people land in the middle class.

Addressing today’s students’ unique needs

Students today often require financial aid in the form of scholarships, grants, and loans to attend college. And they have other needs colleges and universities must adapt themselves to meet. These include flexible degree programs and new learning opportunities that fit their hectic lives. These supports include culturally appropriate instruction, childcare, bus and subway fare, tutoring, housing assistance, regular meals, and mental health counseling. 

Today, many students are choosing not to pursue higher education because they are under significant economic and psychological stress. It’s a balancing act. Students do not see colleges and universities stepping up to help.

Although higher education pays off for most adults, Americans are increasingly skeptical of the value of bachelor’s degrees, choosing instead to pursue associate degrees and shorter-term credentials—or, choosing not to go on after high school and instead take their chances in the workforce.

Lumina Foundation and like-minded business, higher ed, nonprofit and policy leaders center their efforts on developing a system of learning after high school that positions all individuals for informed citizenship and success in a global economy. This involves understanding today’s students, their needs, how higher education and workforce training must evolve to meet these needs, and helping Americans and others who can make changes happen visualize the future that a better-educated nation brings.

More on Today's Students

One-quarter of Hispanic students face discrimination, leading many to consider leaving college

More Hispanic students are seeking educational opportunities after high school, with a notable upswing over the past decade in the percentage of Hispanics earning degrees. But the pandemic brought unfortunate setbacks to Hispanic enrollment, and a new study also reveals other alarming hurdles many Hispanic students face on their educational journeys.
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A Deeper Dive

Here are several topics related to student success.

Today's Students
Education Levels

Education Levels

Graduation–rate data show inequities linked to race and ethnicity. Lumina’s A Stronger Nation online data visualization tool offers customizable progress reports on graduation rates at the national and state levels. It also tracks progress toward ensuring we can no longer predict educational outcomes by race and ethnicity. 

Today's Students
First-Generation Students

First-Generation Students

Students who are first in their families to go to college or pursue certificates and certifications after high school often do not know where to begin their journeys. Some people want their parents to take pride in their accomplishments; others have no parental support at all. Some level of support is needed to help break cycles of poverty across generations. 

Today's Students
Students of Color

Students of Color

Fulfilling the promise of the American dream requires a focus on ensuring real opportunity for students historically shut off from higher education and meaningful workforce training, including apprenticeship programs. 

Lumina is committed to helping people who are Black and brown build better lives through the power of learning. To help ensure success among students who are Black, Hispanic, Latino, and Native American, we have launched innovative initiatives and partnerships to break down barriers that prevent students of color from benefiting from opportunities they deserve. 

Today's Students
Working Adults

Working Adults

Nearly two-thirds of students work. Half of students today are on their own financially, with many also supporting family members and children. Their college and workforce success requires a college experience that supports more than academic needs.

Justice for Today’s Students

Policies, practices, and beliefs—rooted in history and still affecting people today—keep many Black, Native American, and Hispanic people from the education and skills they need.
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Photoessay

Today’s College Climb

College wasn’t built for today’s students, because today’s students are much more than students. Lumina Foundation teamed up with documentary photographer Rachel Bujalski to capture a candid, close-up look at the lives of five students. Learn more about the barriers today’s students encounter.

Today’s College Climb
Featured Report

First-Generation Student Success

This analysis delves deeply into the first-gen experience, identifying ways that colleges and universities can reshape their cultures to better serve these students. It’s difficult work that requires institutions to critically examine every aspect of their approach to first-gen success. The most successful schools have made wholesale changes to the way they define and identify first-generation students. They’ve overhauled outdated services and expanded their programming to meet the needs of a broader group. And they’ve engaged a bigger slice of the campus community to aid their work.

Learn More
POLICY TOOLKIT

Reforms to Make Higher Learning More Affordable for Parents and Workers

A fresh set of recommendations for how to make federal policy work better for an increasingly diverse population of students. Specifically, the policy toolkit outlines high-impact changes to address barriers to college access and success—including food insecurity and childcare costs—that fall outside of the scope of traditional federal higher education policy.

Toolkit PDF
Stats from policy toolkit in an infographic format show that microgrants help struggling students to graduation.
Featured Resource

America’s Hidden Common Ground on Public Higher Education

Americans think higher education can help people economically, particularly in their home states, according to this Public Agenda/USA TODAY. But by various measures, Americans question whether the benefits of college are worth the cost. Young people without degrees are especially skeptical.

Learn More