Brand-Building at Community Colleges
In an age of information overload, how do you tell the story of who your college is to students and your community? How do you take charge of your own narrative and showcase all that your college has to offer?
Featured Resources
Some highlights of Lumina's work
We're sharing tools and takeaways from our efforts to create a better-educated nation.
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.
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
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.
Instructional capacity in US higher education
July 29, 2026
This report looks at whether U.S. colleges and universities have more teaching capacity than they are actually using. In simple terms, it asks: do schools have enough students to match the number of instructors, programs, classrooms, and academic resources they have built? The report finds that, in many places, the answer is increasingly no.
65 Million Reasons Why Intent Matters Most
June 8, 2026
Adding on to the largest national survey of prospective adult students. An updated view of demand, motivations, and barriers shaping postsecondary enrollment.
Admissions Redesign at the State and System Levels
May 6, 2026
As the postsecondary education landscape changes, it is critical that the field develop a common language through the creation of a typology that can be used to describe the admissions redesigns being adopted and the characteristics of each as the basis to better understand their impact.
Public Benefits and Financial Aid Support Education Beyond High School and Long-Term Economic Well-Being for Low-Income Young Adults
April 27, 2026
This study provides a comprehensive account of how the full portfolio of major public benefit programs and financial aid shapes educational decisions and long-term earnings, tracing effects for our cohort across nearly three decades, from young adulthood through approximately age 40.
The College Reality Check
Feb. 24, 2026
While public confidence in higher education has declined sharply in recent years, current students and graduates report far more optimistic experiences. The College Reality Check: What Students Experience vs. What America Believes report from Lumina Foundation and Gallup examines this divide, highlighting public skepticism alongside the positive outcomes described by those on campus and beyond.
The Future of Fair Admissions
Feb. 2, 2026
Class Action’s new report, The Future of Fair Admissions: A First Look at College Enrollment Outcomes After the End of Affirmative Action, compares first-time enrollments in 2022 and 2023 to enrollments in 2024 at over 3,000 colleges and universities for more than 3 million freshmen.
IPEDS’ Post-SFFA Enrollment Dashboard
Jan. 30, 2026
See the enrollment outcomes at more than 3,000 institutions in 2024, the first year affected by the Supreme Court's elimination of race-conscious admissions compared to 2018 and 2019. Enrollment data are drawn from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.
Understanding Pathways to Enrollment in Community College Noncredit Workforce Programs
Jan. 28, 2026
Noncredit workforce education has emerged as a vital yet underexamined pathway in American higher education. Accounting for an estimated 40% of community college enrollment nationwide (American Association of Community Colleges, 2024), noncredit programs attract millions of adult learners annually. These programs serve diverse needs, providing occupational training geared toward adults seeking skills for new or…
5 Ways Colleges Can Boost Graduation Rates
Jan. 13, 2026
Research has long shown that graduation likelihood is linked to a student’s financial resources, family’s educational background, gender, and ethnicity. But Lumina-funded research now reveals that an institution’s actions and culture matter as well.
How States Are Funding and Expanding Short-Term Credential Pathways
Dec. 10, 2025
The 2025 update to HCM's landscape analysis of state investments in short-term credential pathways. The latest and most comprehensive analysis identifies 111 active state-funded initiatives across 34 states.
The Geography of California Community College Enrollment
Dec. 1, 2025
California students now have more options to take courses offered by institutions that are geographically distant from them, expanding the course-taking landscape for students statewide. This brief explores how the growth of online course taking over the past 10 years has affected the geography of enrollment, specifically the choices students make about where they take…
State Uses of IPEDS Data (2025)
Nov. 12, 2025
In collaboration with SHEEO and with support from Lumina Foundation, this study examines how state higher education agencies use IPEDS, drawing on a national survey and interviews with fourteen state higher education leaders.
College is still worth it, even with student debt.
Nov. 3, 2025
College remains a strong financial investment even after accounting for student loan payments: degree holders earn on average $8,000 more per year than similar non-completers when accounting for debt ($10,400 without accounting for debt).
Beyond Earnings Premia
Oct. 25, 2025
Net returns on educational credentials still yield substantial net earnings gains, reinforcing higher education as a worthwhile investment.
Testing a Lower Cost Model of Student Supports
Sept. 22, 2025
Community colleges and broad-access universities (those with minimally selective admissions policies) provide an opportunity for students across the United States to attain postsecondary degrees and achieve economic mobility. However, graduation rates from such colleges are often low and there are many obstacles that can be difficult to overcome, especially for students who must balance work…
Lessons Learned from Year One of the Great Admissions Redesign
Aug. 28, 2025
Faced with a steep demographic cliff and a growing chorus of questions about value, higher education is wrestling with a somewhat unfamiliar question: How can the college admissions process evolve from gatekeeper to gateway?
Using Data to Redesign Postsecondary Admissions
Aug. 14, 2025
This resource examines the role of stronger data systems in addressing challenges and barriers students must currently overcome to access postsecondary education, highlights efforts states and institutions are undertaking to streamline the admissions process, and identifies best practices that have emerged in the field.
Supporting Adult Learners in Postsecondary Education
July 22, 2025
This study sheds light on the motivations, challenges, and successes of the strategies and practices used by a set of postsecondary institutions that have enacted institutional change in support of adult learners of color.
Institutional Change for Adult Learner Success
July 22, 2025
More than 82 million adults 25 years old and over have never enrolled in any postsecondary education, and another 43.1 million adults have some college credits, but no credential. Black, Hispanic, and Native American adults are disproportionately represented in both of these categories. But the fundamental structures and practices of colleges were not built with…
Student Mental Health on College Campuses
June 17, 2025
College students today often face a variety of challenges academic pressures, social and family stresses, financial/ economic hardship stresses, a rapidly shifting technological environment, an increasingly polarized political environment, and more.