The Lumina Foundation has announced three new grant competitions aimed at making progress on its ... [+]
Lumina Foundation has announced that it is seeking proposals that could total more than $5 million in eventual grants to successful applicants. The new requests for proposals (RFPs) are all aimed at advancing Lumina’s long-standing mission of ensuring 60% of working-age adults have college degrees, certificates, industry certifications, and other credentials of value by 2025.
The RFPs announced yesterday focus on three topics: advancing racial justice and equity, increasing community college enrollments, and supporting nonpartisan state policies that increase overall education levels within communities of color.
Commenting on the call, Jamie Merisotis, Lumina’s president and CEO, said “Lumina’s strategic objectives demand that we put the pursuit of racial justice at the center of everything we do. We aim to identify organizations that can help the nation create a fair and just learning system after high school.”
Racial Justice and Equity Fund. Initiated in 2017 and recapitalized in 2020, this program will make a total of $3 million available in grant support. It will fund efforts to promote racial justice and equity and reduce systemic racism and oppression.
The grants are intended for organizations that are focused on supporting Black, Hispanic, Latino, Native American and Asian American and Pacific Islander populations to include 501(c)(3)s and other nonprofits such as:
- Community-based organizations
- Public policy and advocacy organizations
- Tribal organizations
- Social movement and mobilization organizations
- Centers within colleges and universities
Lumina plans to award grants of up to $400,000 each to 7-10 organizations. Grant activities could span two years. Lumina has scheduled a webinar for Thursday, Aug. 19, to provide an overview and respond to questions. RFP responses are due by 5 p.m. EDT, Sept. 2.
Prioritizing Adult Community College Enrollment. This grant program seeks to identify and support community colleges that already are working to scale efforts that will increase adult student enrollment. A total of $1.5 million in awards is available.
The RFP is directed at public community colleges in Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Virginia, and Texas, as well as tribal colleges.
As many as 20 successful applicants will receive a grant of up to $75,000 to support efforts to enroll more adult students. The RFP is being administered by Achieving the Dream, which will hold a webinar Aug. 25 for interested colleges. Applications are due at 8 p.m. EDT Sept. 17.
State Policy Partnerships. This grant program will advance education policy at the state level that’s intended to increase educational attainment after high school and improve outcomes for Black, Hispanic, Latino, Native American and adult students. Awards totaling $1 million are anticipated.
State-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations advancing education policy at a state level are eligible. Lumina may award up to five grants for as much as $200,000 each. Applications are due by 12 a.m. EDT Sept. 9.
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For more than a decade Lumina has been a name that’s virtually synonymous with what’s known as the “Big Goal” — where 60% of American adults possess a high-quality college degree or credential by 2025. Lumina, and many other educational policy organizations, have based their calls for more educationally credentialed adults primarily on two economic grounds: 1) a skilled workforce is necessary for the U.S. to remain globally competitive, and 2) individuals completing postsecondary education are more likely to be personally prosperous.
Lumina periodically updates A Stronger Nation, its online report that tracks the nation’s progress toward the Big Goal. The most recent data show that while substantial gains have been made since 2008, the pace of progress will need to accelerate — by about double the current rate — if the 60% threshold is to be reached by 2025.
According to Lumina, in 2008, 37.9% of American adults had a recognized postsecondary credential. As of now, that figure has increased to 51.9%, an improvement that, in part, reflects Lumina including workforce certifications and other high-quality certificates in its count, starting in 2014.
Lumina’s higher education attainment agenda has been one of the strongest drivers of policy over the past two decades, particularly at the state level, where since the launching of the Big Goal, 46 states have set their own attainment goals.
Along with Complete College America and the work of Anthony Carnevale at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, it’s been a leading advocate for the value of postsecondary education, stressing the importance of credential/degree completion and championing the need for a diverse, well-educated workforce.
In recent years, Lumina has placed stronger emphasis on promoting racial equity in access to and success in higher education. It has retained the emphasis on quality credentials, but it’s intensified the focus on ensuring that “systems of education beyond high school produce fair and just outcomes for people of color.”
The grant programs announced yesterday reflect those dual commitments.“Despite everything that has happened within the past year, Lumina remains hopeful and even more deeply committed to advancing racial justice and equity,” Danette Howard, senior vice president and chief policy office at Lumina, told me. “We are excited to expand our approach to grantmaking to extend beyond funding projects largely by invitation. We are convinced that this open invitation can help address the barriers that often hamper grant-seeking organizations led by people of color serving communities of color.”
