Lumina Foundation
Thursday, October 8
The best colleges aren’t always the most famous
Washington Monthly’s rankings look beyond prestige to ask which colleges serve students well, keep costs manageable, and create opportunity. The post The best colleges aren’t always the most famous appeared first on Lumina Foundation.
luminafoundation.org
Wednesday, September 23
Three years after the end of race-conscious admissions
In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled in SFFA v. Harvard that race-conscious admissions policies violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The decision had an immediate impact on how colleges and universities determine who gets into their institutions. Three years…
luminafoundation.org
Thursday, September 3
Pruning to grow
Higher education has room to serve more people. Preserving that opportunity will require strategic choices about what each institution offers—and what they can offer collaboratively. A healthy tree does not grow by keeping every branch. In an environment of finite sunlight, water, and nutrients, unchecked growth can…
luminafoundation.org
Thursday, August 27
Why Americans should care when international students stop coming
For decades, America has enjoyed an extraordinary competitive advantage that we rarely talk about: many of the world’s most talented people have wanted to study here. We have gotten so accustomed to this advantage that we seem to assume it will always exist. It won’t, and the warning signs are beginning to flash.…
luminafoundation.org
Tuesday, August 25
Building better workforce credentials: lessons from 3 states
This year, I’ve traveled 18,000 miles visiting 12 states across the country to learn how education and business leaders are strengthening the connection between learning and work. As employers struggle to find skilled workers and learners seek faster, more affordable pathways to good jobs, policymakers are refining…
luminafoundation.org
Tuesday, August 4
The state of short-term credentials
The demand for short-term credential programs is growing, and state leaders are responding. In 2025, a total of $8.1 billion was spent across 34 states to help students and institutions deliver high-quality, short-term education and training programs. This growing state investment, combined with Workforce Pell, has…
luminafoundation.org
Monday, August 3
Why is applying to college so complicated? How to simplify it
Not everyone has to go to college, but everyone should know if they could. Across the country, thousands of students are finding out about their college options without having to apply. They’re already in, based on how they do in high school. Direct admission programs are clearing the way to college, instead of hoping…
luminafoundation.org
Thursday, July 30
A hidden student success strategy? Rethink course scheduling.
A student’s course schedule is one of the most consequential (and often overlooked) factors shaping whether they stay on track for their degree or credential. Yet the path to earning a degree or credential remains unnecessarily difficult for far too many students. Beyond juggling work, family, financial, and academic…
luminafoundation.org
Tuesday, July 28
America’s learning opportunities shouldn’t be this hard to find.
“Where can I learn to fix boat engines?” my teenage son asked one day. The post America’s learning opportunities shouldn’t be this hard to find. appeared first on Lumina Foundation.
luminafoundation.org
Tuesday, July 21
Americans haven’t given up on college. They’ve changed the scorecard.
For decades, colleges benefited from a simple assumption: prestige signaled value. A bachelor's degree from a respected institution was widely seen as the gold standard, while community colleges and certificates occupied lower rungs of the educational hierarchy. The post Americans haven’t given up on college. They’ve…
luminafoundation.org