Lumina Foundation for Education Inc
Historical FunderIndianapolis, Indiana · EIN 35-1813228 · Private foundation · Website
Grants paid (2024)$30M
Organizations funded357
Typical grant$12,500
Total assets$1.5B
Half of its grants to organizations were between $5,000 and $100,000.
From the return
How to apply
The foundation filed the following application information (Form 990-PF Part XV, tax year 2024):
| Contact | PROGRAM OFFICE NEW INQUIRY |
|---|---|
| Address | LUMINA FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION PO, Box 1806, Indianapolis IN 462061806 |
| Form and materials | Lumina Foundation does not have a formal letter of inquiry (LOI) policy. However, we do review unsolicited requests. Unsolicited requests are reviewed by the grants management team for alignment with the Foundation's current strategic priorities. If the request aligns with current work, it is referred to a program officer for further review. Requests considered viable are invited to submit concept papers for further consideration by Lumina Executive Team members. Formal invitations for full proposal may be advanced following initial evaluation. |
| Deadlines | UNSOLICITED INQUIRIES RECEIVED BY THE END OF SEPTEMBER FOR THE YEAR |
| Restrictions | Lumina carefully reviews every grant inquiry that meets foundation guidelines. Following the initial review, we will inform applicants within two months of receipt whether the inquiry fits our current priorities and resources. Due to limited resources, we cannot request proposals from all inquiries that meet our criteria. If we decide to request a full proposal, a Program Officer will contact the applicant to request additional information and to provide instructions on applying for a grant. An invitation to submit a proposal does not guarantee funding. Lumina carefully considers all solicited proposals; occasionally, we invite external experts to review proposals as well. We are diligent in our efforts to respond promptly to proposals. Assuming potential grantees' timely responses to requests for information, the entire review and approval process typically takes approximately six months. |
Copied as filed. Deadlines on a tax return describe the foundation's usual process; they are not confirmation of a current open cycle.
What it funds
Share of grant lines on the latest return, classified from the purpose each grant states.
Where it gives
67% of grants went outside Indiana.
Grants paid in tax year 2024
| Recipient | Location | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackbaud Giving Fund | Charleston, SC | To support Lumina's 2023-2024 Gift Programs through the Blackbaud Giving Fund. | $2,508,511 |
| Georgetown University | Washington, DC | To strengthen the alignment of postsecondary education and workforce via research and technical assistance. | $900,000 |
| Illinois Board of Higher Education | Springfield, IL | To implement direct admissions statewide in Illinois for community college transfer students and high school seniors, using the Common App | $750,000 |
| Northern Arizona University Foundation | Flagstaff, AZ | To expand Northern Arizona University's universal admissions program to nine Arizona community college districts | $750,000 |
| Trustees of the California State University | Long Beach, CA | To automate admissions to the CSU system through California's official K-12 college & career readiness platform | $750,000 |
| The Third Way Foundation Inc | Washington, DC | To assess the true costs of developing and offering short-term workforce development programs at community colleges and evaluate the… | $745,000 |
| Complete College America | Indianapolis, IN | to support the continued implementation of the Historically Black Community College Network | $740,000 |
| Competency-Based Education Network | Franklin, TN | To pilot competency-based math course redesign models to foster more equitable pathways to success at community colleges | $700,000 |
| John N Gardner Institute | Brevard, NC | To work with Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education institutions to create and implement five-year plans that transform the… | $670,000 |
| Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association Inc | Arlington, VA | To support public television news broadcast segments related to the nation's need for increased educational attainment after high school. | $650,000 |
| Washington Monthly Institute Inc | Washington, DC | To support independent, policy-oriented journalism about issues vital to creating a better-educated country. | $650,000 |
| Research for Action | Philadelphia, PA | To conduct research and evaluation on Lumina's Great Admissions Redesign Challenge grantees. | $550,000 |
| Association of Community College Trustees | Washington, DC | To support the Kids on Campus framework for co-locating Head Start programs on community college campuses | $450,000 |
| SUNY Impact Foundation Inc | New York, NY | To support the SUNY system in implementing the ASAP | ACE model with 10 institutions. | $425,000 |
| Public Radio Exchange | Minneapolis, MN | To support coverage of immigrants seeking education and training after high school. | $400,000 |
| Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System | Madison, WI | To study the impact of integrating proactive financial aid notifications with direct admissions programs in at least two states, in… | $350,000 |
| Rutgers The State University of New Jersey | New Brunswick, NJ | To support sustainability efforts of the Non-degree Credentials Research Network (NCRN) | $350,000 |
| Louisiana Board of Regents | Baton Rouge, LA | To support a faculty professional development program to equip faculty with equity-driven pedagogical tools to improve student learning and… | $330,000 |
| VIP Consortium Inc | Atlanta, GA | To further the efforts of the Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Consortium of postsecondary institutions seeking to enhance student… | $330,000 |
| Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois University | Carbondale, IL | To support the SIU system to implement evidence-based interventions to improve academic progress, decrease DFW rates, and increase… | $300,000 |
| Community Services Society of New York | New York, NY | To provide capacity building support to the Education Debt Consumer Assistance Program. | $300,000 |
| Louisiana Board of Regents | Baton Rouge, LA | To plan for automated admissions for Louisiana's universal transfer pathway students and high school seniors | $300,000 |
| Miami University | Oxford, OH | To implement a faculty professional development intervention to promote innovation and equity in redesigning programs, courses, and… | $300,000 |
| Regents of the University of California - Merced | Merced, CA | To conduct an analysis of student family wealth and existing Pell awards towards the development of the framework of a supplemental,… | $300,000 |
| UnidosUS | Washington, DC | To support research, policy analysis, and non-partisan advocacy in support of efforts to increase postsecondary attainment and quality for… | $300,000 |
| Open Campus Media Inc | Washington DC, IN | To support in-depth coverage of race and equity in higher education, and higher education coverage in Indiana. | $275,000 |
| Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development | Paris, FR | To identify international best practices in how collaboration between higher ed institutions, cities, and regions can support sustainable… | $265,000 |
| Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc | Washington, DC | To support the Higher Ed Forward joint funder effort designed to advance student success, academic freedom, and democratic principles… | $250,000 |
| American Academy of Arts and Sciences | Cambridge, MA | To support the Aspen Higher Education Forum with journalists' participation. | $250,000 |
| Education Strategy Group | Chevy Chase, MD | To provide technical assistance to SHEEOs involved in cross-agency workforce collaboratives, and facilitate the launch for an 8 state… | $250,000 |
| Leadership Conference Education Fund The | Washington, DC | To convene a coalition of national civil rights partners around advancing racial equity and economic mobility in federal higher education… | $250,000 |
| Schott Foundation for Public Education The | Cambridge, MA | To provide operating support for the next iteration of the Executives' Alliance for Boys and Men of Color. | $250,000 |
| State Higher Education Executive Officers | Boulder, CO | To build capacity among SHEEOs to advance equitable policy agendas. | $250,000 |
| Texas Higher Education Foundation | Austin, TX | To develop direct admissions pathways for Texas students using the state's official college & career readiness platform | $250,000 |
| Washington Student Achievement Council | Olympia, WA | To conduct research around the narrative surrounding higher education and its benefits and deliver new messaging to target audiences | $250,000 |
| Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law | Washington, DC | To address challenges arising from US Supreme Court rulings prohibiting colleges and universities from considering race as one factor among… | $230,000 |
| Memorial Community Development Corporation | Evansville, IN | To provide general operating support for Our Times, a Black community newspaper in Evansville, Indiana. | $210,000 |
| Civic News Company | New York, NY | To support higher education coverage in Colorado. | $200,000 |
| Excelencia in Education Inc | Washington, DC | To inform institutional, state, and national policy with practices and strategies to address affordability and more intentionally serve… | $200,000 |
| Foundation for California Community Colleges | Sacramento, CA | To support the California Education Learning Lab to develop a novel statewide, intersegmental professional learning cooperative serving… | $200,000 |
| Foundation for California Community Colleges | Sacramento, CA | To support implementation of California's Master Plan for Career Education. | $200,000 |
| Free Press Indiana Inc | Indianapolis, IN | To support advertising and marketing efforts to build audience and brand recognition for a local newsroom. | $200,000 |
| Georgia State University Foundation | Atlanta, GA | To support The National Institute for Student Success to deliver its Diagnostic Playbook services to 3 SUNY institutions. | $200,000 |
| Linked Learning Alliance | San Francisco, CA | To evaluate the implementation and progress of the Golden State Pathways Program in California. | $200,000 |
| National Student Legal Defense Network | Washington, DC | To support policy analysis and advocacy addressing reverse redlining and basic needs insecurity in higher education. | $200,000 |
| Project on Predatory Student Lending Inc | Jamaica Plain, MA | To support the Project on Predatory Student Lending in building infrastructure to harness student borrower clients' voices. | $200,000 |
| Research Foundation of CUNY | New York, NY | To support professional development of CUNY four-year and two-year college faculty on the ethical use of AI and the development of open… | $200,000 |
| Student Borrower Protection Center | Washington, DC | To conduct an analysis of companies that facilitate low-quality, high-cost education and training and a study exploring the implication of… | $200,000 |
| American Association of Colleges and Universities | Washington, DC | To support the rollout of Democracy Re/Designed and support IDHE's transition to AAC&U | $180,000 |
| Data Quality Campaign Inc | Washington, DC | To elevate the use of state longitudinal data systems in automating admissions processes and to provide TA to Great Admissions Redesign… | $180,000 |
| Partnership for College Completion | Chicago, IL | To support community engagement and strategic communications related to equitable higher education policy in Illinois. | $175,000 |
| Trellis Strategies | Round Rock, TX | To develop solutions for improving college participation and student success among transportation-challenged students at community colleges. | $174,800 |
| Steve Fund The | Providence, RI | To poll students about their perceptions of campus climate and the impact on their mental health. | $156,800 |
| Arizona State University Foundation for A New American University | Tempe, AZ | To support strategy and implementation planning for the University Innovation Alliance. | $150,000 |
| Capital B News Inc | New York, NY | To provide general operating support to a nonprofit news organization that's strengthening the local news ecosystem nationally. | $150,000 |
| Center for Racial Equity in Education | Charlotte, NC | To support CREED to elevate policy to improve opportunities for students attending North Carolina's ten Historically Black Colleges and… | $150,000 |
| Clean Power Institute | Washington, DC | To pilot a community college training program for wind technicians. | $150,000 |
| Equity Research Cooperative | Philadelphia, PA | To launch research projects and build coalitions to create actionable evidence for college affordability, including the free college and… | $150,000 |
| Free Press | Washington, DC | To provide general operating support for a nonpartisan nonprofit that strengthens local news through public policy education. | $150,000 |
| New England Commission of Higher Education | Wakefield, MA | To build on the work of the Lumina-funded NECHE Taskforce on Non-Credit Credential Recognition by piloting the use of a new Non-Credit… | $150,000 |
Showing the 60 largest of 357 grants to organizations.
Grants approved for future payment
| Recipient | Location | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Georgetown University | Washington, DC | To strengthen the alignment of postsecondary education and workforce via research and technical assistance. | $900,000 |
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants paid | Grant lines |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $30,030,680 | 358 |
| 2023 | $55,173,681 | 338 |
Sources
- IRS Form 990-PF, tax year 2024, filed Nov 17, 2025 - IRS e-file batch, object ID 202533219349105458
- IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search for EIN 35-1813228
- Profile updated Nov 4, 2026
Facts on this page come from the foundation's own IRS Form 990-PF filings as published by the IRS. Grantvello does not know whether a foundation is accepting proposals right now: a past grant is not an open opportunity. Always confirm current guidelines with the funder before applying.