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.
What Can Historically Black Colleges and Universities Teach About Improving Higher Education Outcomes for Black Students?
April 12, 2023
America is finally taking note to the unique benefits of Historically Black College and Universities for Black students. Enrollment is up, and after a century of underfunding, some money is coming in from sources both public and private.
The Child Care Barrier
March 23, 2023
Earning a college degree can have a profound and far-reaching impact on the lives of student parents and their children. However, without affordable, high-quality child care, the goal of a college education remains largely inaccessible for countless student parents.
Faculty Diversity and Student Success Go Hand in Hand
Nov. 30, 2022
Faculty diversity plays a key role in college student completion and can have a major impact on students’ sense of belonging, retention rates, and persistence. All students benefit from faculty diversity. Engaging with diverse faculty and different perspectives builds empathy, a respect for others, and creativity, and improves problem-solving skills—and Black and Latino students, who…
COVID-19 and Rural Higher Education
Sept. 9, 2020
COVID-19 has caused seismic shifts for postsecondary education. For rural colleges, the pandemic exacerbated issues that have affected students and communities for decades. A report from MDRC explores promising ideas and strategies to support rural college students during and after the pandemic.
What Really Works in Student Success?
June 24, 2020
Community college students invest considerable time and money into attending college, but too few of them complete their programs of study. This paper from the Community College Research Center discusses how the development of an overall framing vision for student success, the implementation of evidence-based practices, and the establishment of a culture that is conducive…
The Role of Institutions in Advancing Racial Equity in Postsecondary Attainment
May 27, 2020
Lumina’s Talent, Innovation, and Equity (TIE) initiative awards multi-year grants and technical assistance to states to promote awareness of racial attainment gaps in postsecondary education and work towards the reduction and elimination of those gaps.
Coalition-Building Efforts and a Race-Conscious Postsecondary Agenda: Lessons from TIE States
May 22, 2020
Lumina’s Talent, Innovation, and Equity (TIE) initiative awards multi-year grants and technical assistance to states to promote awareness of racial attainment gaps in postsecondary education and work towards the reduction and elimination of those gaps (Lumina, 2017).
Clarifying the True Cost of College for Student-Parents
Jan. 27, 2020
For the 486,4544 student-parents in California juggling work, family, and academic obligations, not being able to afford college tends to be the biggest barrier to completing postsecondary education. To adequately plan their attendance, student parents need accurate estimates of the total cost of college, including tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, and…
Top 10 IT Issues, 2020
Jan. 21, 2020
A report from Educause tell a story of how higher education is beginning its digital transformation journey. Colleges and universities are working to unmake old practices and structures that have become inefficient and are preparing to use technology and data to better understand and support students and to become more student-centric.
Unequal and Uneven: The Geography of Higher Education Access
Dec. 18, 2019
In much of the existing higher education literature, “college access” is understood in terms of pre-college educational attainment, social and informational networks, and financial capacity, both for tuition and living expenses. The US ranks highly on initial college access by comparison with other countries, but this access—along with all major metrics of college success, including…
Investing in Single Mothers’ Higher Education
Dec. 4, 2019
Single mothers who earn an associate’s or bachelor’s degree earn more, pay more in taxes, and require little if any public assistance, according to this study from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. The report provides state-level analysis on the economic and social returns for single mothers who are able to access higher education and…
Growing the Numbers of Women in the Trades
Nov. 11, 2019
Greater access to apprenticeships in the skilled trades can help women achieve economic security and fill predicted skills shortages in construction. The construction trades provide good careers with family sustaining earnings. Employment prospects are favorable, not least because many skilled workers are close to the age where they may want to retire, and the industry…
California’s Health Care Solution
Oct. 28, 2019
The 21st Century Pathways to Health Careers initiative addressed the inequities in the health workforce through efforts to develop equitable student-centered health career pathways. It also highlighted four elements that are essential to the success of career pathways initiatives: connecting a shared vision to tangible goals and actions, prioritizing equity, developing employer champions, and strengthening…
Creating Accelerated Pathways for Student Success in Mathematics
Oct. 17, 2019
This research brief from the Community College Research Center describes findings from a survey about mathematics course offerings at institutions in six states implementing mathematics pathways.
Early College, Continued Success
Sept. 10, 2019
Students participating in Early College High Schools (ECHS) are nearly three times as likely to earn associate’s degrees or certificates than non-ECHS peers, according to this study from the American Institutes for Research. Within six years of their expected high school graduation, the report states that about 84 percent of ECHS students had enrolled in…
The Value of an Incomplete Degree
Aug. 20, 2019
Many undergraduates leave college without completing a degree or credential. Some researchers characterize this as a waste of the student’s time because (they assert) college short of a degree does not yield any advantage in the labor market. Using data for an entire cohort of students graduating high school in Texas in one year, we…
Early Wins for Philadelphia’s First Middle College
Aug. 6, 2019
Parkway Center City Middle College is the first early college investment of the School District of Philadelphia in partnership with the city’s community college. The sheer number of applicants to the school (2,300 applications for 150 spots) is an indication of the eagerness of Philadelphia families to enable young people to get a head start…
A Clearer Path to College and Career Success
June 21, 2019
College and career pathways integrate a continuum of workbased learning opportunities that expose students to the world of work and provide young people with the academic, technical, and employability skills they need for college and career success.
Education Benefits: 2019 Survey Results
June 3, 2019
More employers are investing in education to help attract and retain employees, according to a survey from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. The report says more than nine in 10 (92 percent) of U.S. organizations offer some sort of educational benefit.
The Life and Death of a Public-Private Partnership
May 14, 2019
For-profit companies have become quite interested in partnering with community colleges and four-year institutions. To the extent that colleges can take advantage of these companies’ economies of scale to provide traditional or new college services at a lower price point, these partnerships could represent a classic “win-win” scenario. For example, colleges that cannot afford to…