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Ending Racial Injustice

We place achieving racial equity at the heart of all our work to ensure more adults earn degrees and other credentials after high school.

People want a fair shot at a college degree or other credential that allows them to learn, grow, and thrive. But opportunity isn’t equal: It still depends on who you are and where you come from. In light of the country’s enduring legacy of racism and structural barriers to achievement, we must all do more to make opportunity real for Black, Hispanic, Latino, and Native American people.

To achieve equity, we must focus our efforts. The promise of American opportunity has always been in sharp contrast with our nation’s legacy of racial discrimination and oppression. At Lumina, we work with others to pursue racial equity, diversity, and inclusion to eliminate the systemic racism that fosters injustice.

Unfortunately, today’s education systems fail to meet the needs of today’s students. These students are more racially and ethnically diverse. They are more likely to work full time. And they are more likely to experience poverty, a lack of stable housing, and food insecurity. These circumstances reflect widening gaps in income, wealth, and access to opportunity.

Policies, practices, and beliefs—rooted in history and still affecting people today—especially keep many Black, Native American, and Hispanic people from the education and skills they need. These systems unfairly hold back students seeking better education and better lives. Racial disparities in the United States are widening; without concerted efforts, such inequity will continue to grow.

Deliberate policies created or contributed to these unjust conditions, and it will take focused efforts to undo them. Higher education can play an important role. Despite serious challenges, education and training after high school remain among the most secure pathways to economic stability. But the country needs a learning system that works well for everyone.

We work with partners to pursue racial equity by ensuring that colleges, universities, and other education providers do all they can to make opportunity real for students of color, students who are the first in their families to go to college, students from low-income families, and working-age adults.

More on Ending Racial Injustice

Nine ways funders can increase diversity in higher ed in a world without affirmative action

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s June 29 decision to end affirmative action in college admissions, a group of foundations quickly issued a joint statement condemning the decision, saying, “The Supreme Court’s decision impedes colleges and universities from selecting their own student bodies and fully addressing systemic racial inequalities that persist.”

With the end of race-conscious college admissions, Americans have reached common ground on what’s needed next

What will American colleges and universities look like now that the Supreme Court has upended affirmative action? The evidence is clear: As we’ve seen from states that had already banned race-conscious admissions prior to the court’s recent decision, enrollment for students of color will decline. We can avoid going backward only if institutions embrace new approaches for increasing student diversity and abolish advantages for the privileged, such as legacy preferences.

Ending Racial Injustice
Disparities in Higher Learning

Disparities in Higher Learning

Policies, practices, and beliefs—rooted in history and still affecting people today—especially keep many Black, Native American, and Hispanic people from the education and skills they need. These systems unfairly hold back students seeking better education and better lives. Racial disparities in the United States are widening, and without concerted efforts, such inequity will continue to grow.

Ending Racial Injustice
Talking about Race and Racism

Talking About Race and Racism

To achieve justice for people who are Black, Hispanic, Latino, and Native American through increased learning after high school, we must help people understand why that’s important, what systemic barriers exist, and how they can make a difference.

Student carrying folder on shrubbery lined campus.
Talking Equity

How to persuade people of the need for racial justice and equity

To achieve justice for people who are Black, Hispanic, Latino, and Native American through increased learning after high school, we must help people understand why that’s important, what systemic barriers exist, and how they can make a difference.

Talking About Race
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Racial Equity Themes

Interactive Data on Racial Equity from a Nationally Representative Survey

Lumina’s racial equity research included a national opinion and message-testing survey about opportunity and racial equity in the United States In 2020, Lumina released these data for public use.

Racial Equity Themes

Lumina’s equity-first approach

Lumina leaders talk about what it means to be an equity-first organization.

Native American journalists bring an indigenous perspective to the stories of Native students

Author and journalist Suzette Brewer and photographer Hondo Louis, were among five Native Americans journalists who reported, photographed, and created videos that examine the roles of four Indigenous students from tribes across the country who are contributing to Native teaching and research in higher education. Read more »