A Stronger Nation
We're tracking America's progress toward the nation's 60% attainment goal.
Featured Resources
Some highlights of Lumina's work
We're sharing tools and takeaways from our efforts to create a better-educated nation.
REACH Collaborative
REACH supports community colleges in six states to embed high-quality non-degree credentials in associate degree programs.
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.
Four Ways States and Localities Are Improving Employment Outcomes for Reentering Young Adults
June 27, 2023
Young adulthood is a crucial period that can determine a person’s success later in life by setting a trajectory for work experience, education and training, and financial stability. Unfortunately, many previously incarcerated young adults—those ages 18 to 24—face collateral consequences from policies and laws that make it difficult to obtain employment and education even after…
Second Chance Pell: Five Years of Expanding Higher Education Programs in Prisons: 2016–2021
May 18, 2022
The Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites Initiative, launched by the U.S. Department of Education in 2015, provides need-based Pell Grants to people in state and federal prisons. A new report from The Vera Institute of Justice shows that enrollment of incarcerated students in Second Chance Pell higher education programs has increased steadily for five years,…
Freedom to Achieve
Aug. 20, 2021
More than half a million people are released from U.S. prisons each year, and the majority are unable to find work due to underlying biases and systemic racism. A new report from Jobs for the Future argues that we must match the breadth and scale of the investments that support U.S. systems of incarceration by…
What Corrections Officials Need to Know to Partner With Colleges to Implement College Programs in Prisons
June 2, 2021
In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest at the federal and state levels in expanding higher education in prisons, particularly expansions that offer a path to degrees or industry-recognized credentials. This report from the RAND Corporation provides guidance on key questions about in-prison college programs, helps corrections officials in assessing such opportunities,…
Lessons Learned From Prison Education Interruption During Pandemic
April 1, 2021
A fact sheet by the Center for Law and Social Policy details the effect the coronavirus pandemic on prison postsecondary education. Focusing on the spring 2020 term, the information highlights some changes in correctional facility visitation policy, highlights challenges in providing prison postsecondary education, recognizes the history of prison education disruption, and amplifies appropriate policy…
The Possibility Report
Feb. 3, 2021
At least 95 percent of people in prison will eventually be released—and their ability to access and complete some form of a college degree or credential will increase their chances of overcoming post-incarceration barriers. A new report from The Campaign for College Opportunity offers insight on how college leaders and policymakers can help. The study is written…
Supporting Success: The Higher Education in Prison Key Performance Indicator Framework
Sept. 15, 2020
Nearly 94 percent of the people currently incarcerated across the United States do not have a postsecondary degree, despite research indicating that higher education in prison decreases rates of reincarceration by improving chances of meaningful employment, stable housing, and successful reintegration in families and communities upon release. This report from the Institute for Higher Education…
Laying the Groundwork
Feb. 11, 2020
A new report on helping incarcerated people obtain the education they need to improve their lives and avoid further contact with the justice system shows how much progress we’ve made – and how states could be doing so much better.
Equipping Individuals for Life Beyond Bars
Nov. 5, 2019
Research shows the importance of education on successful reentry for justice-involved individuals, where postsecondary education is proven to be meaningful to both reentry and labor market success. Nonetheless, opportunities to pursue postsecondary education in federal and state prisons are extremely limited. While federal and state prisons prioritize General Educational Development (GED) courses, traditional college courses…
Federal Policies Should Emphasize Quality and Equitable Outcomes for Incarcerated Learners
Aug. 27, 2019
Lumina Foundation believes high-quality education and training after high school should be available, affordable, and accessible to all—and that it should lead to further education and to good-paying jobs. Our commitment is motivated by a desire to use education to empower people who face longstanding, structural barriers, and we emphasize that commitment for people who…
A Piece of the Puzzle
July 9, 2019
High-quality postsecondary education offers people in prison new opportunities. It makes it possible for people leaving prison to build the lives they choose by equipping them with the tools they need to navigate the complex social and economic realities of America in the 21st century. So, too, it offers people serving long—or possibly endless—sentences the…
Correction by Degrees
June 26, 2019
In 2017, more than 622,000 people were released from state and federal prisons. Of these individuals, 78% of the men and 83% of the women were between the ages of 25 and 54—the prime working age population. Those who receive some form of postsecondary education within prison are estimated to have a 10% better chance…
Equity and Excellence in Practice
May 31, 2019
Equity and Excellence in Practice is the first comprehensive report written by and for practitioners to share recommendations for higher education in prison programs. The report draws upon the lessons learned from existing programs offering post-secondary education in prison settings.
Unbarring Access
May 30, 2019
Increasing access to higher education includes providing opportunities for the large U.S. incarcerated population, states this report from Ithaka S+R. There are multiple barriers to postsecondary access and success for this underserved population, resting mainly in limited federal and public support for improving and expanding programs, the report notes.
Evaluation of North Carolina’s Pathways From Prison to Postsecondary Education Program
May 17, 2019
Researchers from RAND and RTI evaluated the program's adoption and success rate, interviewing more than 70 stakeholders, program staff and participants to gather input. Overall the program enrolled 201 students at the six participating prisons, where classes were taught by instructors from local community colleges. The in-prison portion of the program was completed by 150…
Investing in Futures
Jan. 15, 2019
Efforts to build robust postsecondary education programs in prison have accelerated in recent years, with support from a broad range of groups from correctional officers to college administrators. This report describes how lifting the current ban on awarding Pell Grants to incarcerated people would benefit workers, employers, and states. Specifically, it analyzes the potential employment…
Framing the Opportunity
April 13, 2017
Postsecondary policy is a powerful lever for increasing underserved populations’ access to economic opportunity, suggests a report from Jobs for the Future. The study offers eight state policy recommendations that support postsecondary credential completion for opportunity youth, immigrants, and incarcerated or formerly incarcerated individuals who face barriers to earning the postsecondary credentials needed to join…
Focus Magazine Fall 2016: Unlocking lives
Dec. 6, 2016
Today, more than ever, successful second chances depend on high-quality postsecondary education. And that’s what this issue of Lumina Foundation Focus is about. It goes behind the walls of the nation’s correctional facilities to examine postsecondary programs that serve the people who need those programs most.
Incarcerated Adults: Their Skills, Work Experience, Education, and Training
Nov. 3, 2016
Higher percentages of incarcerated American adults scored at the lowest levels of proficiency in literacy and numeracy skills compared with the American household population, says a report on workplace skills by the National Center for Education Statistics. The report is designed to provide policymakers and others with information to improve educational and training opportunities for…
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Education
Aug. 16, 2013
Each year, thousands of incarcerated adults leave the nation’s prisons and jails and return to their families and communities. While many successfully reintegrate into their communities, find jobs, and become productive members of society, many others will commit new crimes and end up being reincarcerated.