Posted on February 14, 2011

Lumina Foundation Announces $5 Million in Fourth-Quarter Grants

The Indianapolis-based Lumina Foundation for Education has announced twelve grants totaling more than $5 million to organizations in five states and the District of Columbia working to enhance student preparation, success, and productivity in higher education.

Recipients of the fourth-quarter grants include Achieve, which received almost $1.2 million for the development of college and career readiness assessments tied to the Common Core State Standards; the Institute for Evidence-Based Change, which was awarded $875,000 to assist in the facilitation, management, and expansion of the Tuning USA pilot project; and the Center for American Progress, which was awarded $900,000 to create a public policy framework for U.S. higher education that draws on emerging lessons from service-industry science.

"The single most important economic growth issue facing our country is the critical connection between college success and economic prosperity," said Lumina Foundation president and CEO Jamie Merisotis. "In Lumina's ten-year history, we've directed our efforts on enrolling and graduating more students from college — especially low-income students, students of color, first-generation students, and adult learners while focusing on our Big Goal: By the year 2025, we want 60 percent of Americans to hold high-quality college degrees and credentials. Lumina's fourth-quarter grants move us toward that goal, which has become an economic imperative."