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
Chris's mom
Dec. 16, 2021
Jobs: After grieving lost family, my mom found her calling—as a funeral service worker
By Chris Mullin
Empty chairs at the dining-room table this time of year remind us of loved ones no longer here. Like yours, perhaps, my family has had some experience with that loss. But in my mother’s case the grieving also led to a new career, and I sometimes think about what that might mean for others considering…
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Featured News
Dec. 12, 2021
Keep Virginia moving forward: Accelerate efforts on workforce development and equity
By Scott Jenkins
To those who appreciate good government and the smooth transition of power from one administration to another, the scene of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and Gov. -elect Glenn Youngkin together represented a moment to celebrate.
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A rendering of the proposed Bottleworks building as proposed in the IHPC hearing.
Dec. 10, 2021
Lumina Foundation inks deal to anchor new office building in the Bottleworks district
Lumina Foundation will become an anchor tenant of the Bottleworks District’s new office building at 820 Massachusetts Ave. The developer, Beloit, Wisconsin-based Hendricks Commercial Properties, expects to break ground next spring or early summer, with the office building opening by mid-2024. Lumina will occupy 23,700 square feet of the top floor of the five-story building, with access…
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Manufacturing worker in safety gear, working with industrial machinery.
Dec. 8, 2021
Veterans deserve help with military ‘skills translation’ to get college credit
By Frank Swanzy Essien, Jr.
A new survey shows that U.S. military members and veterans who return to college often struggle to get academic credit for what they’ve learned and the skills they’ve mastered in the service.
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Featured News
Dec. 8, 2021
New hope for college students with ‘stranded’ transcripts
By Terri Taylor
Ever started pulling at a string on a sweater and ended up with a fistful of yarn? That’s how I’ve felt while going into a deeper understanding of how and why holds are placed on a student’s transcript or enrollment and the impact that it has on students. But untangling these complexities is essential for…
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Young adult coding on multi-screens.
Dec. 7, 2021
These new information tools offer big help to college students and job-seekers
By Wendy Sedlak
New technology designed with a human touch is helping people make sense of their higher-ed and job-search choices. Amid college enrollment declines and increasing labor demands during the pandemic recovery, programs are popping up across the nation to help students, workers, and job-seekers navigate their choices and find better ways to learn, earn, and contribute…
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Featured News
Black, female student with backpack.
Dec. 7, 2021
The Great Resignation is here. How can community colleges help?
By Mary Laphen
The Great Resignation is upon us. In September alone, about 4.4 million workers walked away from unfulfilling or low wage jobs, looking for more promise, purpose, and pay. Community colleges are stepping up to offer Americans paths to careers, but the route from college to job isn’t always clear.
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