Lumina Foundation will update the country’s progress toward 60 percent of working-age adults with college degrees and certificates and industry-recognized certifications.

Creating websites that work better for the actual people we want to reach is critical to expanding access and meeting the mission and vision of your college. No matter your resource level, making data-informed decisions that support your strategic goals and optimize available resources is important. 

This workshop will explore a process that helps colleges put students at the center, creates a more meaningful digital experience, optimizes available resources, and delivers measurable results.

You are invited to a reception to unveil the Today’s College Climb Photo Gallery. The exhibition features photo essays on the lives of today’s college students by award-winning documentary photographer Rachel Bujalski. Hosted by Northern Virginia Community College and Lumina Foundation, this unique event will feature a welcome from NOVA President Anne Kress, a brief documentary screening, remarks from Jamie Merisotis, Lumina Foundation president and CEO, and a student panel.

Citing January’s National Student Clearinghouse data, higher ed enrollment has been on the decline for a while and took a major downturn over the last two years.  Lumina’s aim in hosting this virtual convening is to bring together experts to discuss the decline's long-term implications for individuals, especially for those populations who have been hit the hardest (e.g., Hispanic, Native American, adult, and community college students), as well as for society in general if enrollment and completion do not just bounce back but exceed pre-pandemic numbers.

Join us for our third of three webinars focused on helping states achieve racial justice and equity.

Lumina is offering a 1 million dollar grant opportunity to eligible community colleges to support strategic marketing efforts and brand development. Community colleges that plan to apply should join us for a 1-hour informational webinar to learn more and ask additional questions.

Join Father James Martin, S.J., and Jamie Merisotis at 1 p.m. EST, Monday, Feb. 14, for a virtual discussion on human work, spirituality, and empathy.

During webinar 2, we’ll learn together from state policy leaders and experts in the field as they share state policy insights and promising practices on student financial aid.

Join leaders and authors Admiral Stavridis and Jamie Merisotis for an engaging discussion on how human work and national security can help create paths that help a lot more people—diverse in every way—to learn, earn and serve others, with the aim of empowering our economy, strengthening our democracy, and advancing equity and justice for every American.

Join us for the first of three webinars focused on helping states achieve racial justice and equity.

Join us December 15, 4:00 – 5:00 PM ET for a special conversation with Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of University of Maryland at Baltimore County.

The second webinar in our Equity First series focusing on Tackling Tenure. In this session, we will continue to explore how barriers inside and outside the Academy reinforce inequities in the promotion and tenure system

Please join us October 7, 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. EDT for Tackling Tenure: Part 1, the next conversation in our Equity First series.

HBCUs are continuously encountering obstacles that make it difficult for them to build capital, develop organizational capacity, and remain sustainable. Lumina seeks to partner with HBCU’s to address these obstacles through targeted capacity building related to institutional sustainability and student success particularly for working adult students.

Employers need a highly skilled workforce, and workers need more skills to grow their careers. The Kelly Certification Institute is meeting this demand by providing education and training to those looking for economic opportunity connected to today's and tomorrow's labor demand. Join us for a conversation about how this program is serving adults in the Detroit region, how it connects to broader movements to improve the region's learning system, and how others might work collaboratively to ensure people have the credentials they need to participate in the workforce and sustain themselves.

Learn more about Lumina Foundation's Racial Justice and Equity RFP opportunity. Staff members will provide an overview of key information and answer questions from participants.

Join us for a first look at the new Stronger Nation searchable data tool. Together, we’ll explore where the nation, states, and even counties are in the country’s quest to help more people secure valuable education and training after high school.

Join us for a special conversation in our Equity First series with Dr. Shaun R. Harper, Executive Director of the USC Race and Equity Center

Join us for a special conversation in our Equity First Series with Julián Castro, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Mayor of San Antonio, Texas, and Presidential Candidate. This conversation, facilitated by Lumina Foundation Senior Vice President and Chief Policy Officer Dr. Danette Howard, will focus on Secretary Castro’s experiences working at the intersection of public policy, expanding opportunity, and leading for racial equity.

Join The American Legion and Lumina Foundation as we release our new report "The Future of Credentialing of Servicemembers and Veterans: Leveraging Partners, Policies and Resources."

Join us for a special conversation in our Racial Justice and Equity Series with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award winner and author of How to Be an Antiracist, Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, and editor of Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019. Dr. Kendi leads the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research. This conversation, facilitated by Lumina Foundation Senior Vice President and Chief Policy Officer Dr. Danette Howard, will explore how racism and inequity are entrenched and advanced through public policy, and how public policy can become a tool for equity and justice.

Attitudes on America’s colleges & universities have been changing for a long time. But everything we thought we knew before 2020 has changed dramatically, as COVID-19 upended our world and higher ed system this past year. Luckily, several organizations conducted public opinion research mid-pandemic to track students’ & voters’ perceptions of higher ed over the last year, and what shifting attitudes mean for the long-term sustainability of the sector.

Not all learning takes place in the classroom. Students often gain valuable knowledge and applicable skills on the job, during military service, through certifications, or from life experiences. The Recognition of Learning, also known as Prior learning assessment (PLA) makes it possible for students to earn academic credit for nontraditional learning. Eight out of ten U.S. higher education institutions offer one or more PLA options to students, but it’s still not always easy for students to earn credits for a variety of reasons. Those that are able to earn credits thanks to PLA often finish degrees that they otherwise would not have.

It’s time to spark a shift in America’s postsecondary education system—to make learning more accessible, equitable, and applicable. Join us for our second virtual Convening—a discussion with Microsoft and LinkedIn on human work, labor market outcomes, credentials, and digital skills needed in a COVID-19 economy.

In this time of upheaval, state leaders face unprecedented social and economic challenges. They must work to spark a shift in our education and talent development systems to ensure they are equitable to all. Join us for our Virtual State Policy Retreat—two days of in-depth talks, breakouts and networking time—where we will take on these issues and more.

Join us for a virtual book launch with Lumina Foundation President and CEO Jamie Merisotis as we celebrate the October 6th release of his second book, Human Work in the Age of Smart Machines. Jamie will be joined by thought leaders to discuss his book's key theme—human work as the work of the future. Be sure to follow @LuminaFound and @JamieMerisotis on Twitter for more updates, and use the hashtag #HumanWork to join the conversation!

During this time of upheaval, it’s more important than ever to have thoughtful—and thought-provoking—discussions around today’s most critical issues. Join the Smithsonian Latino Center and Lumina Foundation for a virtual roundtable on race, learning, and culture in higher education. The Smithsonian Latino Center works to preserve Latino history and culture, engage Latino communities, and advance […]

With Lumina Foundation’s support, National Skills Coalition and Education Strategy Group are partnering to help states and postsecondary systems prioritize quality non-degree credentials that will quickly help people find and keep better jobs.

In 2017, data from the U.S. Department of Education revealed that half of Black borrowers default on their student loans within 12 years of enrollment, and more recent data reveal that these trends have continued. Even as the issue of college affordability and student debt have become central to public policy discourse, the necessary companion conversation about the effect of endemic structural racism on inequitable student outcomes has been less robust.

Courtney Brown and Jeff Strohl discuss the importance of high-quality industry certifications. This is the first year that our ‘A Stronger Nation’ data tracker measures certifications in postsecondary education attainment, and we’re excited to recognize this critical pathway for skills development and recognition.

Lumina Foundation national webinar from June 25, 2020 features 3 HBCU presidents from Howard University, Dillard University, and Morgan State University who have led their institutions to improve student retention and completion rates for all students, as well as for diverse student populations within HBCUs. Learn about how these leaders are planning and prioritizing moving forward, and how they view the role of HBCUs in our current context.