News and views in higher education attainment from Lumina Foundation

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Lumina News

National philanthropy leader joins lumina as vice president for equity, culture, and talent

Lumina Foundation has named Linh C. Nguyen, a national leader in talent development, organizational effectiveness, and philanthropic strategy, its first vice president of equity, culture, and talent.

Sept. 20, 2022

Jamie Merisotis and U.S. Surgeon General

Student Supports

We agree with the Surgeon General on college mental health: It’s time to ‘blow it open.’

We’re having a moment in mental health, and we need to use it to challenge assumptions, push for sustainable funding, focus on preventative measures, and end the stigma of mental illness.

Zainab Okolo, Jamie Merisotis Sept. 19, 2022

Michelle Asha Cooper

Lumina News

Longtime champion of racial equity in education to join Lumina Foundation

INDIANAPOLIS—Michelle Asha Cooper, Ph.D., deputy undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Education, will join Lumina Foundation on Oct. 3 as vice president for public policy and executive director of Lumina’s Washington, D.C., office.

Sept. 13, 2022

Featured Podcast

Adult Pathways

What it Takes To Return: Adults in Higher Education—Part 2

Dakota PawlickiSept. 6, 2022

Research and Evaluation

Here’s what schools should do about lack of faith in college education and its high cost

Are colleges stuck in the past and no longer beneficial for those seeking a good living? According to a recent survey, yes. Institutions of higher education must focus on outcomes, parental concerns.

Jamie MerisotisJuly 17, 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

Stress weighs heavily on those who remain in college, a new Gallup-Lumina study finds

Within the past six months, three-fourths of students in bachelor’s programs and two-thirds of adults seeking associate degrees who have considered taking a break from college cited emotional stress, according to a new Gallup-Lumina report.

April 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

Research and Evaluation

Millions are signing up for job training, but are the courses worth it?

Noncredit workforce programs are on the front lines of serving our nation’s need for new skills. But these programs vary widely—raising the question of how to ensure positive results for 5 million students who enroll in these courses every year to build better careers and lives.

Frank Swanzy Essien, Jr.Feb. 22, 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

Less talk, more action: ‘Talent Hubs’ offer equity solutions

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 change.”

Wendy Sedlak, Dakota PawlickiJan. 19, 2022

Research and Evaluation

These new information tools offer big help to college students and job-seekers

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 their choices and find better ways to learn, earn, and contribute…

Wendy SedlakDec. 7, 2021

Research and Evaluation

Alabama and Indiana are helping many more people get education for good jobs—Here’s how

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.

Wendy SedlakNov. 4, 2021

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

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