America needs clear paths to learning and success after high school that make the nation stronger and meet the needs of today’s student.

No matter where you come from, what you look like, or how much money your family has, you should have what you need to learn, grow, and thrive. Read more about Lumina’s Commitment to Racial Equity.

Lumina Foundation works in partnership with education and business leaders, civil rights organizations, policymakers, and individuals who want to reimagine how and where learning occurs.

AREAS OF FOCUS

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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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Our commitment to racial equity
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Lumina wants to ensure quality education for all Americans.
Find out how Lumina's efforts support the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal of Quality Education.
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The Nation’s Progress

The United States faces an urgent and growing need for talent. Many more people of all races, ethnicities, ages, and income levels will need college degrees, certificates, industry certifications, and other credentials of value to join or remain in the middle class.

Success Stories

Navajo student Triston Black stands behind a livestock fence facing the camera.
Focus Magazine
Students at Diné College find relevance on the rez
Triston Black had the world at his feet. As a senior at Navajo Preparatory School in Farmington, New Mexico, scholarships and enrollment incentives were pouring in from across the country as colleges and universities were hoping to recruit him.
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Focus Magazine
Menominee equips warriors for the fight to save the Earth
Jasmine Neosh had arrived at an inflection point. In the fall of 2016, the Menominee tribal member was waiting tables and tending bar at an upscale Chicago eatery as the protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline grew into a full-blown crisis in the northern Plains.
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Lisa Dirks
Focus Magazine
Alaska-born Native scholar works to reorient research
In the early 2010s, Lisa Dirks was visiting her relatives in Alaska when she noticed an article in the Aleut Corporation newsletter on their dining room table: an item that looked like a research article. As a scholar, researcher, and tribal member, she was curious about its contents, so she picked it up and began…
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Featured News
Dakota Pawlicki in podcast studio with Suzette and Hondo on the screen behind him.
Nov. 16, 2021
Native American journalists bring an indigenous perspective to the stories of Native students
By Dakota Pawlicki
Go beyond the scenes with the team of Native American journalists and photographers that produced Native Excellence, the Fall 2021 issue of Focus Magazine. Suzette Brewer and Hondo Louis talk about their process, reporting during the pandemic, and about the importance of Native American representation in journalism.
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Featured News
Nov. 15, 2021
My dad the inventor had the bootstraps he needed to lift himself up—but not the education
By Chris Mullin
In a country that prides itself as the land of opportunity, we forget how close many have come to success—only to fall short for the lack of some critical ingredient.
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Nov. 12, 2021
Trimmed version of Build Back Better still offers critical job training and other help for adult students
By Kermit Kaleba
Free community college is missing from the proposed new $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act, but the measure still provides significant help for adult students and the colleges that help them learn and earn.
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Featured News
Nov. 10, 2021
Student parents have the heart to succeed in college—let’s help them make it
By Zainab Okolo, Shauna Davis
Parenting is hard—and even harder when trying to balance the pursuit of higher education and the demands of a job. That trifecta is enough to bring even the most ardent multitasker to a point of exhaustion.
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Two men discussing strategy in meeting room.
Nov. 4, 2021
Alabama and Indiana are helping many more people get education for good jobs—Here’s how
By Wendy Sedlak
In a time when millions of people need new skills to fill open jobs across the country, we’re learning more about how educators, employers, and government agencies can work together to help them—and help solve the nation’s critical labor shortage.
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Students embrace at reunion.
Oct. 26, 2021
Colleges roll out a new ‘homecoming’ for adult students
By Jamie Merisotis
Fall homecoming feels different this year as schools welcome back not only nostalgic grads but also those who left early and want to return to finish their degrees. The warm welcome parallels a new infusion of support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and for community colleges. These are all driven by factors that reflect…
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Climate activists at the COP21 UN climate summit in Paris, France, stage a protest calling for
Oct. 25, 2021
As the U.N. climate conference nears, more universities must join this ‘best last chance’ to curb global warming
By Jamie Merisotis
Expect expansive coverage of the U.N. climate conference (COP26) in the coming days, even though the real news is decades old. The reality of global climate change is all around us, yet many national governments and big polluters lack the courage, the will—sometimes even the desire—to curb greenhouse emissions. Colleges and universities have an essential…
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