The Great Admissions Redesign
Lumina Foundation is seeking to work with states, higher education systems, and groups of colleges and universities ready to transform how potential students apply, enroll, and access their institutions.
Featured Resources
Some highlights of Lumina's work
We're sharing tools and takeaways from our efforts to create a better-educated nation.
A Stronger Nation
We're tracking America's progress toward the nation's 60% attainment goal.
Community College Challenge
The Million Dollar Community College Challenge team is shining a spotlight on the great work of community colleges around the country.
REACH Collaborative
We're supporting community colleges in six states to create short-term credential-to-degree pathways for adults who are Black, Latino, Hispanic, and Native American.
Changing the Narrative on Student Borrowers of Color
A collection of essays from student loan experts sets the record straight on borrowing among students of color.
Community Grants
Our community grants portfolio supports local organizations in our hometown of Indianapolis and around central Indiana.
Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Hear stories about how HBCU's help students thrive.
Tuition Reimbursement
Meet a few of the workers and employers participating in tuition reimbursement programs.
Lumina Impact Ventures
Lumina Impact Ventures is the Foundation's impact investing arm partnering with mission-aligned social enterprises.
Local Talent Handbook
A guide for local leaders to build talent pool in their communities.
I Want That Job!
A series from WorkingNation on promising career paths for early career workers
History of Federal Student Aid
A film series documenting the policy and the political origins of federal financial aid programs
Beyond Financial Aid
How colleges can strengthen students’ financial stability, leading to higher completion rates
State Strategy Labs
Lumina supports state leaders’ efforts to increase education levels by offering nonpartisan research, data, peer advice, and technical support.
Degree Qualification Profile
A learning-centered framework for what college graduates should know and be able to do to earn the associate, bachelor’s or master’s degree.
How Community Colleges Can Help Scale US Apprenticeships
Sept. 23, 2024
Growing registered apprenticeship programs to levels seen in other countries will require significant effort and investment. However, community colleges seem well-positioned as a rare bit of low-hanging fruit: institutions that might act as an accelerator of apprenticeship.
Reconnect, Re-Enroll, and Rise
April 24, 2024
In the fall of 2019, 2.6 million students started their college careers. The following semester, the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, bringing with it unprecedented adversity for learners. Facing financial hardship, learning challenges, and overwhelming anxiety and grief, 679,000 students would not return for their second year. As the impact of COVID-19 ebbed and flowed with vaccine…
Digital mini-grant application
April 15, 2024
Mini-grant application PDF. Tell us what’s excellent about your college for an opportunity to receive a $50K mini-grant to improve your digital outreach.
College Access in California
Dec. 4, 2023
Recent data from the Public Policy Institute of California show that just over 62 percent of the 435,000 students who graduated from high school in spring 2020 enrolled in college within 12 months, down from a recent peak of 67 percent in 2017–18. Additional highlights of the report include: High school graduates are more likely […]
Creating a Policy Environment to Unleash the Workforce Development Potential of America’s Community Colleges
Nov. 28, 2023
While community colleges play essential roles in workforce development, their effectiveness varies greatly by location. Promising practices abound, yet they often are not widely replicated, concludes this report from the American Enterprise Institute.
Strengthening California’s Transfer Pathway
Sept. 13, 2023
With 1.8 million students, California Community Colleges (CCC) are often the primary point of access to higher education for low-income, Black, and Latino students. Given the role of community colleges in creating a strong pipeline of college graduates, improving transfer rates to four-year colleges has become an increasingly important policy goal, says this report from…
Compete to Win: Michigan’s Path to Top 10
July 17, 2023
Community colleges have the ability to open doors for Michigan residents to acquire skills and credentials that help them earn higher incomes and advance in their careers, for businesses of all sizes to close talent gaps and upskill their workforce, and for the state to improve its economic competitiveness.
Pandemic Relief Funding for Community Colleges
June 14, 2023
To provide fast and direct economic aid to the American people negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress enacted a series of laws and injected about $4.6 trillion into the U.S. economy. Of this amount, more than $75 billion was directed to institutions of higher education through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds. These funds…
BOOSTing Transfer Partnerships to Promote Equitable and Affordable Transfer Pathways
April 5, 2023
Many students who begin their post-high school journey at a community college intend to eventually get a bachelor’s degree. Research shows, however, that only around 15 percent do so within six years. The reasons vary, including a perpetually leaky transfer process where some 43 percent of credits are lost between schools.
From Degrees to Dollars
March 30, 2023
U.S. community colleges—which disproportionately serve students from low-income backgrounds—provide higher education to millions of students each year. They are accessible, and much less expensive than four-year colleges or private two-year colleges. At the same time, community colleges struggle with low graduation rates. Among first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students entering public two-year schools, only 29 percent graduate within…
Mapping Community College Finance Systems to Develop Equitable and Effective Finance Policy
March 28, 2023
With declining enrollment, pressing state workforce needs, tightening state budgets, and persistent equity gaps in student outcomes, the stakes for community colleges have never been higher. Too many community colleges aren’t reaching their potential to improve lives and local economies, and the way they are funded is a big part of the problem.
Community Colleges and Workforce Development
March 20, 2023
Community colleges provide millions of students, including people of color and those from low-income backgrounds, with the skills to prosper in the U.S. labor market. At the same time, completion rates are low, some credentials lack labor market value, and some students run the risk of accumulating significant debt and defaulting.
Rural Community College Excellence
March 3, 2023
Rural community colleges occupy a unique and important place in higher education. Of 332 million Americans, 46 million live in rural communities, and more than 1.5 million attend one of 444 rural community colleges. These institutions are more than education providers; they are essential hubs in their regions, generating opportunities for economic mobility, driving talent…
Investment in the Future
Feb. 20, 2023
Steps taken to address racial inequality in the private sector and higher education are not always altruistic. This brief examines the economic impact of having a representative workforce, focusing on the state of North Carolina (NC). We discuss the importance of successful education programming designed to address issues related to Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, and people…
How Can Community Colleges Afford to Offer Dual Enrollment College Courses to High School Students at a Discount?
Feb. 6, 2023
As dual enrollment students come to comprise a larger share of community college enrollments—can colleges afford to continue offering these courses at a discount? A new report from the Community College Research Center examines how community colleges can structure their programs to be more efficient and financially sustainable. The authors present three case studies of…
Listening to Learn
Feb. 3, 2023
Community colleges are a gateway to postsecondary degrees for many students, including those from low-income backgrounds and marginalized populations. Yet once students enter community college, many are faced with a host of complex administrative processes that can make it difficult to succeed. The pandemic exacerbated these and other barriers, as students were deciding whether they…
A Case Study of How Community College Student Parents of Color Navigate College and Careers
Jan. 27, 2023
Community colleges, which can lead students to job opportunities and well-paying careers, are one of the main entry points to higher education for student parents. We use a conceptual framework that bridges career capital and community cultural wealth to understand student parents’ college and career trajectories.
‘What Works’ for Community College Students?
June 3, 2022
In the fall of 2020, community colleges served nearly five million students. This represents 29 percent of U.S. undergraduates. Although community colleges are providing these students with access to postsecondary education, the colleges’ graduation rates remain low. Among first-time, full-time students seeking degrees or certificates whose first postsecondary school is a two-year, public institution, only…
Improving College Success for Students in Corequisite Reading
April 8, 2022
In a corequisite approach to developmental education, students enroll in a college-level course paired concurrently with a support course designed to address student learning needs in a given subject. This report from Strong Start to Finish examines early college outcomes of students placed into corequisite reading courses at the 13 community colleges in the Tennessee…
Educational Attainment, Community College, and Transfer in the Black Belt
March 21, 2022
A report from the University of Alabama’s Education Policy Center on the impact of COVID-19 and Alabama’s Black Belt shows that nearly half as many students in Alabama’s Black Belt transferred from community colleges to four-year colleges in 2020 compared to the rest of the state.