News and views in higher education attainment from Lumina Foundation

Featured Story

Human Work and Learning

Is America’s Workforce Ready for a Tsunami of Skilled Jobs?

As America continues to emerge from the pandemic’s grip, several economists — including Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell — anticipate a wave of job creation in the second half of the year, and some expect the U.S. economy to achieve a level of growth we haven’t seen in 30 years.

Jamie MerisotisJuly 27, 2021

Competency-Based Learning

What I want for my kids – and yours: the education to lead and succeed

Proudly, I work at Lumina Foundation. This means that I believe in and support the value proposition that all learning counts. That includes short-term credentials.

Chris Mullin July 22, 2021

The six Mullin siblings hamming it up for the camera. Palm trees in the background.

Student Supports

Millions of students need help navigating college; my sister — a single mom battling cancer — was one of them

I don’t come from a college-educated family. My father started college at Butler University in Indianapolis only to stop, begin work, and never return. My mother started, too, but couldn’t get past college algebra. So, when it was our turn to go to college, they were determined to see their children do well and graduate.

Chris Mullin July 19, 2021

Featured Podcast

Student Supports

Changing the Narrative on Borrowers of Color

Dakota PawlickiJuly 20, 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

How to reach adult students? For starters, talk to them like adults

How can colleges and universities reach and engage adult learners, who are quickly becoming a larger part of their student populations? The answer is: much differently than they did traditional students.

Wendy SedlakMay 12, 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

Research and Evaluation

Prior Learning Assessment: Give higher-ed credit where credit is due

Giving college students credit for what they’ve learned in life and on the job – known as prior learning assessment – can save them up to $10,000 in tuition and a year of study, new data show. That helps students complete their degrees more quickly and at less cost, at a time when millions of…

Wendy SedlakJan. 26, 2021

Research and Evaluation

Industry certifications offer clear path to jobs during the COVID recovery—and beyond

Americans struggling to find and keep jobs amid the global pandemic are discovering a clear path to employment: high-quality credentials that prove both knowledge and skills.

Frank Swanzy Essien, Jr.Nov. 9, 2020

Research and Evaluation

States are building better connections between education and work—here’s how

Even before COVID-19 hit, higher education was falling short of providing the skills needed for good jobs, a recent study shows. Now, amid the global pandemic and economic crisis, those skills gaps are growing wider.

Courtney BrownNov. 5, 2020

Research and Evaluation

Prior learning credits help students cross the finish line to earn degrees

College students lucky enough to know about it are embracing the growing movement toward prior learning assessment, and many say credits earned in this way helped them complete a degree or program they otherwise would not have.

Wendy SedlakJuly 29, 2020

Research and Evaluation

Stronger Nation Overview—July 2020 update

Twelve takeaways from the July 2020 data update. The nation’s educational attainment rate after high school is 51.3%.

Courtney BrownJune 30, 2020

Research and Evaluation

Adults can thrive amid the pandemic—and flourish when economic recovery comes—by earning short-term credentials

A global health crisis hurts even those who don’t fall ill, especially people with no formal education beyond high school who are caught in the economic riptide of soaring unemployment.

Courtney BrownJune 29, 2020

Research and Evaluation

New data show 51.3% of U.S. adults hold degrees, certificates, or industry certifications

Lumina Foundation’s A Stronger Nation measures industry certifications for the first time, shows disparities in attainment persist among people 25 to 64 who are Black, Hispanic, and Native American

June 29, 2020

Research and Evaluation

Behavioral science and ‘nudging’ research can help students succeed in classes suddenly moved online

The nation's colleges and universities, disrupted with the rest of society by the fast-spreading coronavirus, have remade the instructional experience almost overnight with the move of millions of students and faculty online. And one of the most promising innovations getting an emergency trial by fire is the concept of "nudging" to help students succeed in…

Courtney BrownApril 20, 2020

Research and Evaluation

College credit where credit is due – the move toward ‘recognition for prior learning’

With a little help, nearly 36 million Americans who spent some time at college but never finished could be encouraged to resume their studies and get their degrees.

Frank Swanzy Essien, Jr.Dec. 11, 2019

Research and Evaluation

Census fight isn’t over. Nonprofits need to help everyone stand up and be counted.

With border camps drawing scrutiny, the threat of federal immigration raids in major U.S. cities, and a recent focus on the 2020 census, it’s likely those who feel most threatened will be afraid to respond to the once-a-decade collection of individual data.

Courtney BrownJuly 16, 2019

Research and Evaluation

Now is the time to unleash the talent in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico has plenty of talent – but too few opportunities to unleash it. I saw this first-hand on a recent visit to the island for a conference aimed at increasing education beyond high school for all Puerto Ricans.

Courtney BrownMay 20, 2019