News Release
June 21, 2006
Lumina Foundation allocates $25.5 million to initiative to make higher education more affordable and accessible
Three national organizations assisting the causeINDIANAPOLIS--Lumina Foundation for Education has begun the second phase of its College Costs: Making Opportunity Affordable initiative by allocating $25.5 million toward a three-pronged initiative to lower the cost of college.
Over the next five years, the organization will support promising efforts for affordability and access in key states, continue building and sharing a portfolio of effective high quality approaches, and mount a public education effort to build the will for reforms to lower the cost of college for generations to come.
Three national organizations will help carry out the next phase of the initiative: Boston-based Jobs for the Future, the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education (San Jose, CA), and the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (Boulder, CO). All have a solid track record of achievement in higher education research, analysis, and innovative program development and implementation. In addition to those named above, other organizations will be added as specific areas of work are identified
The United States is no longer leading the world in the percentage of college graduates in the adult population, falling to seventh among OECD countries in the percentage of young adults (25-34) with a college degree
“In order to compete in the global market place, the United States needs to cultivate the talents of all of its citizens,” said Lumina Foundation President and CEO Martha Lamkin. “We’re convinced that making higher education success a reality for more students requires willing partners to come together and reduce the cost of higher education.”
“Our goal is to help build the 21st century higher education system our nation needs, with expanded access, greater success, and improved quality, at a cost that students and the public can afford.”
To meet this goal, the Foundation has identified three primary objectives, according to Lamkin:
•Increase the productivity of higher education by lowering costs while raising quality.
•Reduce the time it takes to earn a certificate or degree.
•Increase access and success among low-income students, first-generation students, adult learners and students of color.
The Foundation will focus on three strategies to achieve these objectives:
•Best practices. Document and publicize new approaches that improve the quality of teaching and learning and deliver education at a lower cost.
•State- and system-based reform efforts. Identify and support states or systems ready to change their ways of doing business to reduce costs, raise quality, and serve more students.
•Public will building. Increase public awareness of the issue and build the will to achieve the initiative’s objectives.
Grant-making guidelines aimed at the strategies above will be announced later this year, according to Dewayne Matthews, senior research director for Lumina Foundation.
“Reducing costs will require that students move through the educational pipeline more quickly, and that higher education help larger numbers of students, including those with the greatest need, attain success,” said Matthews.
“We are delighted to join with Lumina Foundation to work on this issue of urgent importance to the country and to families concerned about sending their children to college,” said Marlene Seltzer, president of Jobs for the Future, the organization that will manage the initiative. “Our economy now requires higher education for all citizens. Costs need to be lower and quality higher so that more low-income students can gain the credentials they need to compete in the global market place.”
The Foundation will also continue its efforts to engage with more than 55 other organizations representing secondary and higher education, state and federal government, business, philanthropy, students and families, all of which indicated interest last year in an initiative to make college opportunity affordable to all individuals who want it.
This phase of Lumina’s initiative builds on significant insight gained during the November 2005 College Costs: Making Opportunity Affordable summit, which was presented in collaboration with the James B. Hunt, Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy in Washington, D.C. That event brought together more than 350 leaders in public policy, education and business to explore solutions to issues impacting affordability, access and success. The summit followed Lumina’s publication of a policy brief, Collision Course, which offered 33 possible practices to lower the rising cost of college and a nationwide Call for Solutions.
As a follow-up to the summit, Lumina Foundation has published Seeking Solutions, a report on the summit proceedings, and Focused Feedback, a summary of insights offered by summit attendees. Both documents are available on the Lumina Web site at www.luminafoundation.org.
“The summit was particularly important because it included representatives of virtually every group that can play a role in bringing costs down,” said Lamkin. “It was especially gratifying to learn that Lumina Foundation is not alone in its concern about the problem, or the belief that it can be solved. More than 85 percent of the summit attendees agreed that the high cost of college is one of the most urgent crises in higher education, and 32 percent said their views changed as a result of their participation.”
About Lumina Foundation
Lumina Foundation for Education, an Indianapolis-based, private, independent foundation, strives to help people achieve their potential by expanding access and success in education beyond high school. Through grants for research, innovation, communication, and evaluation, as well as policy education and leadership development, Lumina Foundation addresses issues that affect access and educational attainment among all students, particularly underserved student groups, including adult learners. The Foundation bases its mission on the belief that postsecondary education remains one of the most beneficial investments that individuals can make in themselves and that society can make in its people.
For more information, contact Dollyne Sherman, director of communication, at 317.951.5493.
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