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

Featured Video
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.
watch video
Our commitment to racial equity
Featured Video
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.
watch video
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

Aggies Elevated students Bret Giebel (left) and Willy Wilson.
Focus Magazine
Utah State program links students to good jobs
Aggies Elevated is a two-year program at Utah State University that is designed to serve students with intellectual disabilities well – not merely by providing opportunities for learning, but also by helping students land competitive, “real-world” employment after they graduate. The staff-intensive Aggies Elevated program typically serves about 15 students at a time. As of…
Continue Reading
Daniel Castellanos shows off his signature salad outside The Pressroom restaurant in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Focus Magazine
‘Special ed goes to college’? Not at Millersville
The goal of the Integrated Studies program at Millersville University is to fully merge its students into college life. The 25 students on the university’s southeastern Pennsylvania campus live with roommates who aren’t part of the program. No classes or social events are designed exclusively for them. They join clubs on campus, but they do…
Continue Reading
Focus Magazine
Western Kentucky serves students on the spectrum
Western Kentucky University’s Circle of Support surrounds high-functioning students on the autism spectrum. Within the Circle — which is a feature of the university’s Kelly Autism Program (KAP) — services are robust: everything from single-room housing to frequent attendance at required “study table” sessions. The sessions are staffed by KAP employees who tutor students on…
Continue Reading
Featured News
Side-by-side images of Irving McPhail and David Gipp.
Oct. 27, 2020
Role models we need to ready us for human work are quietly disappearing during the pandemic
By Jamie Merisotis
Learning from a news article that a longtime colleague died is tough. Learning that his death came just weeks after the passing of another colleague is even tougher. The higher-than-usual losses we’ve experienced during the pandemic have put in stark relief the sense of incalculable loss this disaster has instilled in all of us, especially…
READ MORE
Featured News
Jamie on a virtual appearance with Gerry Dick of Inside Indana Business.
Oct. 26, 2020
For success in the new world of work, stress those ‘human’ skills
By Jamie Merisotis
We talk a lot about machines when it comes to changes in the workplace, but I like to talk about people. As a guest on the show Inside Indiana Business recently, my message was that the nature of work is fundamentally changing, so workers must change and adapt.
READ MORE
Featured News
Books, Laptop, Library, stock photo.
Oct. 21, 2020
A different kind of college rankings tell us a lot about the true value of higher ed
By Jamie Merisotis
As headlines about higher education go, this has to be one of the most clever: “Highbrow Robbery: The Colleges Call It Tuition, We Call It Plunder.” The opening line was: “Everybody seems to agree these days that college costs too much.” The date of the story, from one of my back issues of the excellent…
READ MORE
Featured News
Female factory worker, stock photo.
Oct. 12, 2020
View of the future: In Indiana, keeping good jobs means keeping ahead of the curve for educators, employers – and workers
By Jamie Merisotis
Could Indiana’s greatest economic strengths be its greatest weakness? It turns out that the sectors where Indiana is strongest are those most vulnerable to automation.
READ MORE
Featured News
Volunteers, stock photo
Oct. 10, 2020
Why return to the ‘old normal’? Let’s come back stronger—together
By Jamie Merisotis
Many of us haven’t been to the office, eaten in a restaurant, attended a play, concert, or sporting event, or perhaps even shopped in person since the COVID-19 crisis fully emerged in March. While we yearn to go back to normal, we should use this disruptive slowdown to burnish our civic square.
READ MORE
Featured News
Stock photo of human working in tandem with a robot, or
Oct. 7, 2020
No need to fear the robots if you’re primed for ‘human work’
By Jamie Merisotis
For years, we’ve heard dire warnings that technology poses a threat to millions of workers’ jobs. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen that technology can enable human work, the work of the future.
READ MORE
Featured News
Library books, stock photo.
Oct. 2, 2020
Public libraries have always been a national treasure. COVID can help unlock their full potential
By Jamie Merisotis
Forced by the COVID crisis to reassess how they serve their communities, our nation’s public libraries are finding new, innovative ways to enhance and expand their roles in our civic life.
READ MORE