Richard Cornuelle, the Indianapolis libertarian activist who started United Student Aid Funds (USAF), had a fight on his hands.
of current officers, directors, etc.(Editor’s note: This the second part of a two-part story detailing the little-known roots of the Lumina Foundation, a major force in higher education policy today. “Lumina State Policy Agenda 2017-2020.” Lumina Foundation.“Lumina Will Award Grants to Support Racial Justice and Equity Efforts, Enrollment in Community Colleges, and Nonpartisan Policy Education.” PRNewswire.Accessed via wayback machine August 29, 2021. “National Initiative to Help More Community College Students Succeed Will Expand To 24 New Colleges in Eight States.” Achieving the Dream.“From the Ground Up: An Early History of the Lumina Foundation.” Lumina Foundation.Lumina Will Award Grants to Support Racial Justice and Equity Efforts, Enrollment in Community Colleges, and Nonpartisan Policy Education.” PRNewswire.“Institute for Democracy & Higher Education Receives Lumina Foundation Grant to Support Higher Education’s Role in Preparing Students for an Inclusive Democracy.” Tufts University.11 12 The foundation’s lobbying efforts include funding policymaker organizations, including the National Governors Association, the Council of State Governments, and the National Conference of State Legislators. The Lumina Foundation promotes various left-of-center state and federal education policies, mostly involving increased spending for community colleges and more focused resources for ethnic minority high school graduates. These include the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, Community Partners, the SEIU 1199 Training and Upgrading Fund, the Century Foundation, Demos, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, the Center for American Progress (CAP), the Bipartisan Policy Center, the Brookings Institution, Business Roundtable, Center for Law and Social Policy, and the New Venture Fund (NVF). The Lumina Foundation has funded left-of-center organizations in recent years. One of the first grant recipients of the Lumina Foundation’s racial equity grant program the Institute for Democracy and Higher Education at the Tufts University Tisch College of Civic Life, which received $105,000 from the Lumina Foundation to “explore higher education’s unique role in educating for the health and future of an inclusive democracy.” Organizations Funded The Fund devoted $15 million in funding for projects centered around “dismantling systems of oppression.” 8 The foundation also announced funding for state policy partnerships to fund lobbying efforts for left-of-center racial equity legislation across state legislatures. In its 2020 strategic plan, the Lumina Foundation announced plans to refocus much of its grantmaking on “racial equity” projects using left-progressive critical race theory-inspired language in the announcement of its Racial Justice and Equity Fund.
The Lumina Foundation’s stated goal is for 60% of Americans to have an education beyond high school through either a degree or certification program by 2025.
Among the first projects funded by the foundation was Achieving the Dream, a partnership with other grantmaking organizations to provide over $100,000 in funding to community colleges. The organization was originally named the USA Group Foundation. The Lumina Foundation was designed to redirect revenue from the sale towards funding postsecondary education programs. The Lumina Foundation was created in 2000 as a conversion foundation using proceeds from the sale of assets of the USA Group, a nonprofit student loan administrator, to the Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae).
LUMINA FOUNDATION SERIES
While the initial grantmaking of the organization was focused on ostensibly noncontroversial educational programs, such as community college and college affordability programs, the Lumina Foundation has recently enacted a series of left-leaning funding priorities to disperse funds to support left-of-center policy on race and poverty. The foundation is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, and controls assets totaling over $1.2 billion. The organization was founded in 2000 when USA Group, a student loan company, sold most of its assets to the Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae). The Lumina Foundation for Education (more commonly known as the Lumina Foundation) is a grantmaking organization that funds a variety of postsecondary educational institutions and programs.
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