OVERVIEW: The Lumina Foundation aims to increase the number of Americans who achieve professional credentials, associate degrees and bachelor’s degrees, and its grantmaking reflects this. This funder makes grants for college readiness, higher education, racial justice and journalism.
IP TAKE: Lumina’s funding focuses on large-scale educational research projects and policy development aimed at improving educational outcomes for all Americans. Recent funding has focused on transparent credentialing practices and improving outcomes for African American, Hispanic and Native American students, among other interests.
This funder mainly works with grantee partners it identifies as having the capacity to “leverage large-scale systemic change.” It likes taking risks and being collaborative. This funder encourages organizations that align with its interests and mission to complete its partner survey and reach out to staff with ideas.
PROFILE: The Indianapolis-based Lumina Foundation was established in 2000 when the student loan giant Sallie Mae purchased USA Group, which was then a leading loan service provider. The USA Group founded the Lumina Foundation with the proceeds from the sale, which amounted to $770 million in cash and equity shares. The foundation makes grants with the broad goal of “a more just society, one which ensures paths to greater learning for people who might otherwise be left behind.” Specifically, the foundation seeks to significantly increase the number of Americans with short term credentials, associate degrees and bachelor’s degrees. To these ends, it supports college readiness programs, higher education, as well as research and policy development that relates to improved educational outcomes. The foundation has also recently articulated commitment to “pursue racial equity, diversity and inclusion to address systemic racism that fosters injustice.” The foundation names 12 overlapping areas of focus that relate to specific aspects of education, assessment, credentialing and student support.
Grants for College Readiness
Lumina’s college readiness grantmaking focuses on aligning K-12 academic standards to quantitative measures of college and career readiness. The foundation gave over $2 million to Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors’ Core to College Project, which helped states to align common core standards and assessments with postsecondary expectations. Indiana’s Center for Excellence in Leadership of Learning and Washington D.C.’s Achieve, Inc. received grants for similar projects to support the alignment of K-12 standards with college and work readiness. The foundation also supported a program by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems to spearhead the creation of the national K-16 data system.
Grants for Higher Education
Lumina’s recent grantmaking for higher education funds efforts by individual states and public university systems to advance equitable postsecondary outcomes through aligned standards and credentialing for college courses and degree programs. Grantees in this area include the State Council for Higher Education of Virginia, the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research and Planning and the Montana University System. The foundation also recently gave $1.6 million to the Credential Engine, a national organization that supports states’ policy development toward credential transparency. Recent funding has also addressed the effect that the COVID-19 crisis has had on educational equity at the postsecondary level. The New America Foundation received funding for its research, policy analysis and advocacy on federal policy and the needs of college students in the COVID-19 era. Another grant supported the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors’ project to advance innovative higher education practices during and after the pandemic.
Grants for Work and Economic Opportunity
A significant portion of Lumina’s grantmaking focuses on the relationships between postsecondary education and/or vocational training and viable career paths for students. One specific area of focus is credentialing, a term the foundation uses to refer to specific qualifications, skills and abilities that are conferred upon learners at the completion of courses of study. To this end, the foundation supports research and policy development toward coordination of education and training with marketable workforce skills. One grantee, the National Academy of Sciences, used funding to produce and host virtual workshops on “regional STEM workforce needs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Another recent grant went to the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce, a national organization that helps regions of the U.S. coordinate education and training with the skills required for employment in local industries. Other work and opportunity grantees include the Alabama Governor’s office of Education and Workforce Transformation, the City Colleges of Chicago Foundation and the Opportunity America Education Fund, which used a Lumina grant to study the effectiveness of community college workforce education programs on the national level.
Grants for Racial Justice and Indigenous Rights
The Lumina Foundation has recently named racial justice as the main area of grantmaking interest, aiming to “do more to make opportunity real for Black, Hispanic, and Native American people.” Early grantmaking for racial justice has supported research, policy development and organizing toward equitable educational outcomes for all students. The Research and Planning Group for California Community Colleges received funding for its research on variables associated with inequalities among Black students seeking first credentials. Another grant supported the Center for Law and Social Policy, which used funding to run leadership training and organizing programs that encourage “young people to raise up bold ideas themselves for advancing equity, economic opportunity, and mobility for youth and young adults.” The foundation also provided general operating support to the Decolonizing Wealth Project, a national organization that uses philanthropy, racial healing and digital storytelling to “move us all from disparities to equity.”
Grants for Journalism
The Lumina Foundation does not name journalism or media projects as areas of grantmaking interest, but several recent grants have supported projects in these areas in recent years. The Poynter Institute for Media Studies received funding to support its virtual and in-person racial equity training for journalism professionals. Another grant supported the production company and eponymous documentary series Roadtrip Nation’s production of Rerouting, a film about adult learners. And Minneapolis’s Public Radio Exchange received support for its reporting on immigrants’ experiences in higher education and vocational training programs.
Other Grantmaking Opportunities
In addition to its education-related grantmaking, the Lumina Foundation’s investment program, Lumina Impact Ventures invests in emerging for-profit companies whose work aligns with the foundation’s goals. Recent investments have focused on “advancing racial equity and making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all.” Lumina has invested in Cell-Ed, a company that provides English and work skills education across multiple digital platforms; Edquity, a platform that helps students in need find and secure emergency financial aid; and Mentor Collective, a data-driven enterprise that helps colleges and universities retain students by coordinating meaningful mentorship experiences.
Important Grant Details:
The Lumina Foundation makes about $20 million in grants a year. Most of this funder’s recent grants have ranged from $20,000 to $750,000, with a few multi-year projects receiving grants upwards of $1 million. The foundation’s average grant size is about $150,000. Grantees tend to be national research institutes or large university systems. It also supports state-level public departments, councils and commissions in the areas of education, vocational training, assessment and employment. More recently, Lumina has begun funding public and nonprofit media organizations. For additional information about past grantmaking, see the foundation’s grants database.
Lumina’s grantmaking mainly goes to “partners solicited by the foundation based on their unique capacities to leverage large-scale systemic change.” The foundation does, however, reserve funds for unsolicited inquiries that represent “innovative ideas” relating to the foundation’s mission. Prospective grantees should read the foundation’s grantee FAQ. General inquiries may be directed to the foundation’s staff via the contact page.
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