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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Student Parent Success Stories from Winston-Salem State University
Lisa Matthews is more than a Winston-Salem State alum. She’s also employed by the university as a student success coach.
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Being a Student While Being a Parent
Hear the inspiring story of Ariel Ventura-Lazo—a student parent raising two children. His dedication to his children gave him the inspiration to succeed despite the odds against him.
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The US is falling behind in higher education. Can we turn the tide?
Who are today's higher education students? They might not be exactly who you think. About 40% of today’s students work full time, while another 40% are at least 25 years old, with many coming from low-income families.
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Are robots really taking our jobs?
Are the robots coming for our jobs? Not for those with the training and skills needed in today’s economy. And in nearly all cases, that means the people with education beyond high school.
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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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Learn More About Lumina

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

Lisa Matthews with her sons on campus.
Focus Magazine
Family feeling at HBCUs a key to student success
When it comes to meeting the needs of student parents, the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities have always been in the forefront—in part because they seek to create a supportive, family-type atmosphere. “Historically, we have had to be our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers,” explains one well-known expert on the history and culture of HBCUs.…
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Father and daughter study together in bed.
Focus Magazine
At this D.C.-area nonprofit, education crosses generations
College students in the Washington, D.C., area—and their children—are getting a boost from an innovative nonprofit organization that takes a two-pronged approach to education success. Generation Hope’s “two-generation model” provides direct services to the students themselves—including tuition assistance, academic advising, child care, peer mentoring, and parental counseling—while helping prepare their preschoolers for success in kindergarten.
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Antavia Paredes-Beaulieu, a student at Metropolitan State University in Minnesota, crosses an elevated campus walkway that affords an expansive view of the St. Paul skyline. Paredes-Beaulieu, a single mother with a 10-year-old son, is Native American—a member of the Anishinaabe— but she grew up in Minneapolis, far from her tribal home, the Mille Lacs Reservation in east-central Minnesota.
Focus Magazine
Minnesota goes statewide to support student parents
College success isn’t just an individual goal, or even one that can be confined to the campus. To maximize progress—and to ensure that success is shared by all segments of the population—it’s an issue that must also be tackled at the state level. Officials in Minnesota have taken that lesson to heart. Through a variety…
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Linh Nguyen
Sept. 20, 2022
National philanthropy leader joins lumina as vice president for equity, culture, and talent
Lumina Foundation has named Linh C. Nguyen, a national leader in talent development, organizational effectiveness, and philanthropic strategy, its first vice president of equity, culture, and talent.
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Jamie Merisotis and U.S. Surgeon General
Sept. 19, 2022
We agree with the Surgeon General on college mental health: It’s time to ‘blow it open.’
By Zainab Okolo, Jamie Merisotis
We’re having a moment in mental health, and we need to use it to challenge assumptions, push for sustainable funding, focus on preventative measures, and end the stigma of mental illness.
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Michelle Asha Cooper
Sept. 13, 2022
Longtime champion of racial equity in education to join Lumina Foundation
INDIANAPOLIS—Michelle Asha Cooper, Ph.D., deputy undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Education, will join Lumina Foundation on Oct. 3 as vice president for public policy and executive director of Lumina’s Washington, D.C., office.
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Dakota with guests in the studio.
Sept. 6, 2022
What it Takes To Return: Adults in Higher Education—Part 2
By Dakota Pawlicki
Institutions and non-profits across the country are providing new kinds of services and redesigning policies and practices to support more adults in higher education. In part 2, we talk with Malik Brown and Sena Owereko from Graduate Philadelphia, and from Dr. Ed Mills and Kaley Martin at Sacramento State University about how they are changing…
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Video still from podcast episode 36
Aug. 23, 2022
What it Takes To Return: Adults in Higher Education—Part 1
By Dakota Pawlicki
Millions of adults in the US have some college credit but never finished their degree. The path back into school a second time is much harder to navigate. We begin a two-part series by talking with adult students and their coaches to learn about what it takes to return to school. Listen as Juquilla Henry,…
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Oil rig worker performing an inspection.
Aug. 18, 2022
Job seekers with no degrees—but plenty of skills—need and deserve more
By Kermit Kaleba
With fierce competition for talent in today’s labor market, many employers ask if a college degree is really necessary.
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Jamie Merisotis
July 17, 2022
Here’s what schools should do about lack of faith in college education and its high cost
By Jamie Merisotis
Are colleges stuck in the past and no longer beneficial for those seeking a good living? According to a recent survey, yes. Institutions of higher education must focus on outcomes, parental concerns.
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