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Addressing Equity in Education

We place achieving equity in education at the heart of all our work.

People want a fair shot at a college degree or other credential that allows them to learn, grow, and thrive. But opportunity isn’t equal: It still depends on who you are and where you come from. In light of the country’s enduring legacy of racism and structural barriers to achievement, we must all do more to make opportunity real for Black, Hispanic, Latino, and Native American people. We must also address injustices that affect people based on family income and where they live.

To achieve equity, we must focus our efforts. Unfortunately, today’s education systems fail to meet the needs of today’s students. These students are more racially and ethnically diverse. They are more likely to work full time. And they are more likely to experience poverty, a lack of stable housing, and food insecurity. These circumstances reflect widening gaps in income, wealth, and access to opportunity.

Policies, practices, and beliefs—rooted in history and still affecting people today—especially keep many people from the education and skills they need. These systems unfairly hold back students seeking better education and better lives. Racial, wealth, and geographic disparities in the United States are widening; without concerted efforts, such inequity will continue to grow.

Deliberate policies created or contributed to these unjust conditions, and it will take focused efforts to undo them. Higher education can play an important role. Despite serious challenges, education and training after high school remain among the most secure pathways to economic stability. But the country needs a learning system that works well for everyone.

We work with partners to pursue equity in education by ensuring that colleges, universities, and other education providers do all they can to make opportunity real for students of color, students who are the first in their families to go to college, students from low-income families, and working-age adults.

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In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s June 29 decision to end affirmative action in college admissions, a group of foundations quickly issued a joint statement condemning the decision, saying, “The Supreme Court’s decision impedes colleges and universities from selecting their own student bodies and fully addressing systemic racial inequalities that persist.”

With the end of race-conscious college admissions, Americans have reached common ground on what’s needed next

What will American colleges and universities look like now that the Supreme Court has upended affirmative action? The evidence is clear: As we’ve seen from states that had already banned race-conscious admissions prior to the court’s recent decision, enrollment for students of color will decline. We can avoid going backward only if institutions embrace new approaches for increasing student diversity and abolish advantages for the privileged, such as legacy preferences.

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Policies, practices, and beliefs—rooted in history and still affecting people today—especially keep many Black, Native American, and Hispanic people from the education and skills they need. These systems unfairly hold back students seeking better education and better lives. Racial disparities in the United States are widening, and without concerted efforts, such inequity will continue to grow. Read about disparities in higher learning »

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Talking Equity

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Racial Equity Themes

Interactive Data on Racial Equity from a Nationally Representative Survey

Lumina’s racial equity research included a national opinion and message-testing survey about opportunity and racial equity in the United States In 2020, Lumina released these data for public use.

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Lumina’s equity approach

Lumina leaders talk about what it means to be an equity-focused organization.

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Author and journalist Suzette Brewer and photographer Hondo Louis, were among five Native Americans journalists who reported, photographed, and created videos that examine the roles of four Indigenous students from tribes across the country who are contributing to Native teaching and research in higher education. Read more »

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