Wendy Sedlak
Strategy Director
Wendy oversees the strategic direction and implementation of Lumina's research and data portfolio. This includes establishing and synthesizing the evidence and data necessary to advise Lumina’s strategic direction, documenting effective practices to inform Lumina and the field, and measuring progress and success against key metrics
More about Wendy1 of 27
Adult learners need more than tweaks, and here’s how some colleges are stepping up
Sept. 16, 2025
Colleges eager to help adult learners—especially Black, Hispanic and Latino, and Native American adults who have historically been left behind—know this goal requires more than surface-level tweaks. It demands deep, sustained, and mission-driven institutional change.
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Remapping higher ed: Here’s where innovation and equity are already taking root
Aug. 14, 2025
Some of America’s most vital engines of post-high school learning and opportunity are overlooked and underfunded. Historically Black Community Colleges (HBCCs) and Predominantly Black Community Colleges (PBCCs) play an outsized role in connecting people to learning, credentials, and careers, espec
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Millions pressed pause on college. We can help them hit play again.
July 21, 2025
Forty-three million Americans have started college but left without earning a credential. That group, known as “some college, no credential,” or SCNC, is larger than the population of California. And it continues to grow.
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‘I just never see the end of it’: real stories behind short-term credential seekers
July 15, 2025
Americans eager to gain new skills and energize their careers quickly and inexpensively are turning to increasingly popular short-term workforce programs.
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Fast lift or slow climb? How education moves us (or doesn’t)
May 13, 2025
We often hear that a bachelor’s degree pays off, literally, long-term, but is that always true? And how do short-term credentials like certificates and training badges really compare?
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Is college worth it? Students of color don’t shy away from answering this question
Jan. 30, 2025
Amid growing concerns over student debt and skepticism over the value of a degree, many students find themselves asking: Is college worth the time and money?
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Transforming higher ed: why partnerships matter for everyone
Nov. 19, 2024
We know what works when it comes to helping adult learners of color thrive at college. We know because they’ve told us what they need. The hard part is changing to meet those needs with practical solutions.
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What we can learn from these North Carolina’s HBCUs: Insights to support Black adult learners
July 17, 2024
North Carolina’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) built a distinguished history of serving adult learners with a clear, caring focus on students’ needs—and now they are leading the way for others to follow.
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Help is available—but many college students don’t ask for it. Read on for solutions.
June 17, 2024
Not long ago, a college student said in a focus group that they’d rather fail a class than ask a professor for help. Many students in the group nodded in agreement—and they have plenty of company among students who say they’re reluctant to seek help, often until it’s too late.
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When supply doesn’t meet demand: Let’s learn from Ohio’s manufacturing job demand challenge
Dec. 5, 2023
As U.S. policymakers push to create more manufacturing jobs, here’s a disconcerting fact: Most adults who earn manufacturing degrees in Ohio don’t end up working in the industry there. In fact, some leave manufacturing and Ohio altogether.
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How to ensure fairness in college admissions
Aug. 15, 2023
As my daughter begins her sophomore year of high school, we are starting to think more about college and the complex web of admission requirements. Though I work in higher education, I know very little about what it takes to get into highly selective schools. It’s a black box. But as we figure it
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Student supports only work if students know they exist
July 26, 2023
Support services for college students are more than a nice benefit – they’re essential. Resources such as academic advising, financial aid services, and mental health counseling can mean the difference between stopping out and graduating.
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Proven strategies help some college students, but not all. We have to fix that.
Jan. 26, 2023
There’s good news and bad in a new report on college student success rates. While many U.S. colleges are improving graduation rates for full-time students, we continue to see achievement gaps for Black, Indigenous, and Hispanic students, students 25 and older, and part-time students.
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Reaching the ‘transfer gate’ spells college success
Nov. 21, 2022
Nearly two-thirds of Black students who attend college in California begin their postsecondary journey at a community college. But it’s clear they’re not getting the support they need—more than 60 percent leave school without a degree or certificate and without transferring to a university.
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“Invisible” catalysts get lasting results for adult students
Nov. 3, 2022
Catalysts for change often work quietly, but their results speak loud and clear. At education organizations, they’re the people who build strong relationships across stakeholders, support and empower others to design and drive the work, and embrace a “student first” orientation to center stude
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All learning counts: Creating new paths to college credit
June 8, 2022
Today’s students learn skills at work, in life, and many other ways outside of colleges and universities. But too often, skills and knowledge learned outside of traditional classrooms aren’t counted towards a credential or degree or recognized in the job market.
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These four proven approaches help college students of color succeed
March 7, 2022
Talent Hubs in Ohio, Missouri, and California are using fresh insights to address educational injustices and increase learning opportunities for all.
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Less talk, more action: ‘Talent Hubs’ offer equity solutions
Jan. 19, 2022
Students across the U.S. are rightfully demanding that colleges and universities go beyond listening to seriously address decades of racial inequity. As one Missouri student leader put it: “(My school) is making some change, but I won’t really give them a win until I start to see institutional c
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These new information tools offer big help to college students and job-seekers
Dec. 7, 2021
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
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Alabama and Indiana are helping many more people get education for good jobs—Here’s how
Nov. 4, 2021
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.
