Jamie Merisotis’ biography

Download a printer-friendly, 1-page version of Jamie Merisotis' biography.

Lumina Fact Sheet

Lumina Foundation is an independent, private foundation committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all. We envision a system that is easy to navigate, delivers fair results, and meets the nation’s need for talent through a broad range of credentials. Our goal is to prepare people for informed citizenship and success in a global economy. Updated: March 2018

Statewide Educational Attainment Goals

A Story of Two States

This brief tells the story of two states, Arizona and New Hampshire, and their efforts to set ambitious goals for increasing educational attainment among their residents. Based primarily on interviews with key state leaders, these stories highlight the unique path each state took to prioritize its goals for postsecondary attainment and are designed to inspire ideas for leaders in other states.

Equity Policy Academy

Prioritizing Equity

This brief tells the story of Lumina Foundation’s and states’ efforts to promote an equity agenda for higher education, featuring the 2015 Equity Policy Academy— which focused on improving educational equity for students from historically underserved groups—as a turning point. Based primarily on interviews with Lumina staff and key state leaders from the five states that participated in the Academy—Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Vermont, and Virginia—this story is designed to highlight the unique path each state took to prioritize equity in postsecondary attainment, and inspire ideas for leaders in other states.

Outcomes-Based Funding Strategies for Postsecondary Education

An Inspiring Story

This brief tells the story of Indiana’s efforts to develop and implement outcomes-based funding (OBF) for public postsecondary education. Indiana’s story is supplemented by a briefer description of efforts in Tennessee. Based primarily on interviews with key state leaders, this story is designed to highlight the unique path each state took to implement funding policies that can help increase educational attainment beyond high school, improve equity in student outcomes, and inspire ideas for leaders in other states.

Beyond Financial Aid

How colleges can strengthen the financial stability of low-income students and improve student outcomes

BFA is a compendium of best practices for assisting low-income students. It highlights good work that has been underway for years but hasn’t always been implemented at scale, especially within institutions that enroll significant numbers of low-income students.

A Stronger Nation report

Learning beyond high school builds American talent

Print-ready version of A Stronger Nation's National Summary 2017. 

The most current datasets are available in the interactive version. Visit:  A Stronger Nation.

Ready to Work

Understanding Immigrant Skills in the United States to Build a Competitive Labor Force

Investing in human capital—workers’ education and skills—is key to building a productive workforce, supporting innovation, and fostering economic growth.

Good Jobs That Pay without a BA

A State-by-State Analysis

A state-level analysis finds that nearly half of states have added good blue-collar jobs that don’t require bachelor’s degrees (BAs). The majority of good jobs growth has gone to workers with associate's degrees or some college education.

A Grand Bargain on Quality Assurance?

Change Magazine • September/October 2017, pgs. 66 - 70

Lays out a new federal policy framework for accreditation that would focus on student outcomes and allow for greater differentiation in accreditor engagement with institutions. It is designed to address the core federal interest in ensuring that billions of annual student and taxpayer dollars are spent on quality higher education programs that graduate most students with a valuable credential.