Grants | Print full guidelines

We are no longer reviewing unsolicited letters of inquiry for 2008; however, we continue to accept new letters of inquiry for possible funding in 2009. Because of end-of-year planning activities, we may delay responding to new inquiries until the first quarter of 2009.

Lumina Foundation believes that education provides the basis for individual opportunity, economic vitality and social stability. With its partners, Lumina strives to meet workforce demands and close gaps in attainment for groups not historically well-served by higher education. Lumina's overarching goal is to increase the higher education attainment rate of the United States to 60 percent by 2025. This will represent an increase of 16 million graduates above current levels of production. While our mission focuses on both student access and success in higher education, our emphasis is on attainment, defined as completing associate and baccalaureate degrees and credentials.

We urge all potential grantees to clearly communicate the ways in which their proposed effort can help us reach this goal.

What we fund

Lumina Foundation supports the following types of efforts to increase awareness of the benefits of higher education, improved student access to and preparedness for college, improved student success in college and increased productivity across the higher education system.

Work that stimulates broad-based and systemic change.
Work that focuses on promoting educational access and success for underserved populations, especially low-income students, students of color, first-generation college students and adult learners.
Collaboration among multiple organizations and institutions to ensure comprehensive and enduring attention to students' postsecondary preparation, enrollment and attainment.
Projects that demonstrate capacity for long-term growth and sustainability.
Research and/or evaluation that results in new knowledge and evidence to strengthen opportunities for postsecondary access and success.
Work that addresses increasing efficiency, effectiveness and productivity to more cost-effectively educate a significantly larger share of the U.S. population.