News and views in higher education attainment from Lumina Foundation

Featured Story

Adult Pathways

Colleges buck enrollment trends by increasing their supports for students

More than 40 million people in this country have attended college but stopped before completing a degree, and I can understand why.

Jamie MerisotisMay 29, 2023

Female college students talk with their male friend after the graduation ceremony.

Research and Evaluation

How do we bounce back from the enrollment plunge? Four colleges show the way.

A new National Student Clearinghouse report says 40.4 million Americans have some college but no degree, up from 39 million a year ago.

Courtney Brown May 24, 2023

Happy volunteers lifting wooden frame together at park stock photo

Today's Credentials

Think carefully before deciding to delay the path to or through college

Taking a break between high school and college, or in the middle of your studies, is tempting. After all, the learning process can be hard, and exhausting. But the times we are in call for caution when it comes to any delays in education.

Jamie Merisotis May 15, 2023

Featured Podcast

Student Supports

Addressing Mental Health on College Campuses

Dakota PawlickiMarch 29, 2023

Courtney Brown

FILTERED BY AUTHOR:

Courtney Brown

Courtney Brown, Ph.D, is vice president of impact and planning for Lumina Foundation, an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis that is committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all. As the chief data and research officer, Brown oversees the foundation’s efforts in the areas of strategic planning, learning, impact, and effectiveness. She also leads Lumina’s international engagement.

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Student Supports

More progress urgently needed as colleges work to reduce student stress

The University of Iowa is turning its student union hotel into a mental health center. North Carolina’s state colleges are expanding mental health and crisis services with about $8 million from Gov. Ray Cooper. Florida State University created a new course to train faculty and staff to spot and help students battling trauma.

Courtney BrownApril 3, 2023

Research and Evaluation

Black learners aren’t enrolling or staying in college. A new poll shows why.

New numbers for Black Americans eager to improve their lives with college degrees are alarming: Only 34 percent hold degrees, and half “stop out” of or left four-year colleges within six years. Worse yet, their college enrollment numbers are steeply declining, down another 30,000 this past fall.

Courtney BrownFeb. 13, 2023

Today's Credentials

Why Counting Degrees Matters

The new data are clear: More Americans are learning and training beyond high school to pave powerful paths to well-paid jobs. But progress amid challenges is slow, leaving too many adults without college degrees or other credentials to struggle in their careers and lives.

Courtney BrownFeb. 1, 2023

Adult Pathways

Veering Off-Track: ‘Some college, no degree’ numbers spike to 39 million

Like a freight train speeding down the tracks, this alarming trend is moving fast—but in the wrong direction. America’s “some college, no degree” (SCND) population—those who started at a 2-year or 4-year college and stopped out before completing a degree or certificate—has grown to 39 million people, up nearly 9 percent in just two years.

Courtney BrownMay 10, 2022

Research and Evaluation

College is worth it, but stress and finances hold students back

The numbers are staggering. Enrollment in colleges and universities fell by 938,000 students over the past two years. This enrollment plunge was largely due to people who decided college wasn’t worth it. Right?

Courtney BrownApril 20, 2022

Research and Evaluation

We can reverse the enrollment plunge to avoid the ‘permanent gap’ in U.S. education

A drastic decline in the number of people going to college in the past two years threatens America’s economic health and is worsening the nation’s racial divide in educational achievement, experts on a Lumina webinar told us.

Courtney BrownApril 15, 2022

Racial Justice and Equity

Equity for Indy: Partnering for a more inclusive climate

Barriers to learning that hurt students of color across the nation present both a crisis and an opportunity. In Indianapolis, a diverse and dedicated partnership of leaders is collaborating to solve this.

Courtney BrownFeb. 18, 2022

Racial Justice and Equity

Supporting Native Americans as they learn and earn degrees

One million fewer students: that’s how deeply college enrollment declined since 2019, with no signs of rebounding anytime soon. This hurts people across the nation who want to learn and build better lives. But one group, Native Americans, especially deserves our help.

Courtney BrownFeb. 16, 2022

Research and Evaluation

Report: Adults, Black students completing college at higher rates than ever before

There is welcome news in a report issued this week from the National Student Clearinghouse. The six-year college completion rate for first-time students attending college full- or part-time and earning bachelor’s and associate degrees is up to 62.2 percent, a 1.2-point increase over the previous (2014) cohort of entering students.

Courtney BrownFeb. 4, 2022

Research and Evaluation

Six states lead the way in higher-ed completion—with the help of these students

Lumina Foundation’s refreshed Stronger Nation online tool shows progress–and continuing gaps–across the country when it comes to the post-high school education needed for success today. This is one of series of dives into the material by Lumina’s vice president of impact and planning.

Courtney BrownSept. 7, 2021

Research and Evaluation

Stronger Nation: Progress toward a more talented, equitable nation

Our searchable data tool just got a “facelift.” It now offers fresh insights on where we’re making the most progress with post-high school education and training – and where we’re falling short.

Courtney BrownAug. 18, 2021

Research and Evaluation

Stop ‘brain waste’ by putting college-educated immigrants to work

When a foreign-trained physician is forced to drive a cab to make ends meet, it’s called “brain waste.” A new report by the Migration Policy Institute found high numbers of underemployed college-educated immigrants in the U.S. – with devastating costs to those workers and our nation.

Courtney BrownJune 9, 2021

Research and Evaluation

Education: The key to real opportunity—during the pandemic and beyond

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed any number of inequities in American life, but probably none more glaring than the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots. A key determination between the two is education beyond high school.

Courtney BrownApril 7, 2021

Higher-ed’s pandemic roadblock stops growth in college degrees

A new report from the National Student Clearinghouse shows an alarming trend: COVID-19 has slowed the growth of college degree and certificate earners to a standstill. The numbers are the lowest in eight years – and come at the worst possible time, as unemployment soars and millions of Americans are suffering.

Courtney BrownFeb. 2, 2021