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.
Two Pandemics: Racial Disparities in Basic Needs Insecurity Among College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Oct. 23, 2023
Higher education is essential for creating a more equitable, prosperous, civic-minded, and healthy society. Yet, wide disparities remain when it comes to access and success in higher education based on race and ethnicity. Racist policies and structural barriers mean that not all students have equal opportunities to attain an education and succeed in college. These…
State of Diversity: The Native Tech Ecosystem
Oct. 16, 2023
Despite decades of efforts and hundreds of millions in funding to expand diversity in computing and technology, Native communities continue to remain marginalized. As drivers of regional and rural economies, Tribal Nations are at the forefront of job growth and should be considered critical partners in the future of the technology sector. However, due to…
How to Achieve Diverse Access to College in a Post–Affirmative Action World
Sept. 27, 2023
There is an abundance of research on the college admissions process and the practices selective schools employ to evaluate and select students. Most findings are complex, nuanced, or conflicting.
Advancing Racial Justice on Campus
Sept. 15, 2023
Racial justice in higher education cannot be meaningfully advanced without campus leadership understanding the lived experiences of students, particularly those who identify as Black, Indigenous, Latinx/a/o, Asian, or Pacific Islander. In the three-plus years following the murder of George Floyd and the social uprisings in 2020, colleges and universities have continued to think critically about…
Most Oppose Banning the Consideration of Race and Ethnicity in College and University Admissions
May 30, 2023
The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing two cases involving the University of North Carolina and Harvard University on whether the schools discriminate against white and Asian American applicants.
Assessing College-Credit-in-High-School Programs as On-Ramps to Career Pathways for Underrepresented Students
April 28, 2023
Each year, millions of high school students take courses and exams to earn college credit and thus get a jump start on college while also satisfying requirements for high school graduation. Although the strength of the evidence varies by program type, evaluation research indicates that earning college credit through common early college credit programs increases…
Honoring Indigenous Ways of Knowing in Community College Programs
April 4, 2023
In 2019, Native communities in northern rural Wisconsin and Nicolet Area Technical College (Nicolet College) embarked on a plan to establish pathways to postsecondary education for Indigenous learners. The goal was to create a curriculum and grant credit for prior knowledge in Native culture, governance, history, and language toward a technical certificate and associate degree.…
Using a Measurement System to Strengthen Student Success Reforms
March 30, 2023
A new report from Complete College America aims to help states and institutions use national and homegrown data and measurement tools to improve completion rates, close institutional performance gaps, and increase economic mobility for historically excluded students.
Race-Conscious Affirmative Action
March 20, 2023
An expected national ban on the consideration of race in college admissions will threaten the racial and ethnic diversity of students at selective colleges unless these colleges fundamentally alter their admissions practices. Race-Conscious Affirmative Action: What’s Next finds that selective colleges barred from considering race and ethnicity in their admissions decisions may be able to…
Higher Education Access and Success for Undocumented Students Start With Nine Key Criteria
Feb. 20, 2023
The United States is home to more than 400,000 undocumented students in higher education, including 181,000 recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. This means that one out of every 50 students in college is undocumented. Unlike other college students, however, undocumented students must often navigate complex rules and regulations to access a…
#SOMOSNC: Findings and Recommendations to Support Latinx Education in North Carolina
Feb. 13, 2023
North Carolina’s public education system is at a crossroads. Currently, lawmakers continue a decades-long debate over meeting their constitutional obligations of funding public education in the state. Other education stakeholders, led by MyFutureNC, are working to uplift the state’s workforce by ensuring that two million North Carolinians have a postsecondary degree by 2030.
Diversity and STEM
Jan. 30, 2023
A diverse workforce provides the potential for innovation by leveraging different backgrounds, experiences, and points of view. Innovation and creativity, along with technical skills relying on expertise in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), contribute to a robust STEM enterprise. Furthermore, STEM workers have higher median earnings and lower rates of unemployment compared with non-STEM…
College Enrollment Disparities
Jan. 20, 2023
College graduates earn more, are healthier, and have more stable employment and marriages. Although young adults today are twice as likely to have a bachelor’s degree as they were 50 years ago, there are still sizable differences in enrollment by gender, race, and socioeconomic status.
The Next Phase of Placement Reform: Moving Toward Equity-Centered Practice
Aug. 17, 2022
Test-only placement systems are associated with inaccurate placement determinations that can perpetuate college achievement gaps by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. In response, colleges across the country are increasingly experimenting with and adopting alternative placement strategies that reduce the number of students assigned to prerequisite developmental education and increase access to college-level courses.
Increasing Equity in College Student Experience
July 12, 2022
A multi-year national project focused on increasing student belonging and academic success has culminated in this report from the Student Experience Project outlining tangible interventions universities and colleges can implement.
Greater Funding, Greater Needs
July 8, 2022
Historically Black colleges and universities have distinguished themselves over the past two years in the face of uncertainty and difficulty. They innovated to embrace remote learning and redirected funds to provide their students with much-needed support. And they received an outpouring of funding: The federal government has allocated more than $6.5 billion to HBCUs over…
Latino Student Success
July 7, 2022
For Latino students—the largest ethnic group in our nation’s schools—the pandemic threatened to undermine decades of steady educational progress. At the same time, many of the inequities in America’s schools that were present before the pandemic remain. For example, Latino students are less likely to attend a high-performing school than non-Latino white students, and Latinos…
Resilient But Deeper in Student Debt: Women of Color Faced Greater Hardships Through COVID-19
June 28, 2022
Women carry about two-thirds of the $1.7 trillion of federal student debt, with Black women more than twice as likely as white men to owe more than $50,000 in undergraduate student loan debt. The COVID-19 crisis has only exacerbated the financially unstable positions of many women, according to a new report from the Center for…
National Survey Insights: Building Support for Racial Justice and Equity
June 2, 2022
This report outlines insights from a national opinion and message-testing survey about opportunity and racial equity in America, conducted by Hattaway Communications and Lumina Foundation. This survey builds on in-depth research with Lumina grantees, educators, policymakers, and business leaders about racial equity in post-high school education to provide the perspective of those who are not…
The State of Higher Education for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Californians
May 31, 2022
The future of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders in the United States hinges critically on what happens in California. Not only is the Golden State a national trendsetter on educational policies that seek to advance equity, but California also plays an outsized role with respect to the fates of Asian American and NHPI…