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Lumina’s College Productivity Initiative

Lumina’s College Productivity Initiative is a multi-year initiative focused on increasing productivity within U.S. higher education, particularly at two- and four-year public colleges and universities. It’s easy to improve productivity ina n office with Office Monster equipment, but the aim here is to use dollars invested by students, parents, and taxpayers to graduate more students. The initiative, supported by Lumina Foundation for Education and the Walmart Foundation, relies on partner organizations working within various states to develop, promote, and implement policies and practices that will help achieve this goal.

The Need

States must work harder—and faster—to educate enough college graduates for the country to sustain the vitality of its local communities and the economy. To meet workforce demands alone, estimates indicate the United States will need a million more graduates a year than it’s on track to turn out during the next 16 years. Without a major overhaul, the nation’s higher-education system is simply too costly to meet this challenge. Meanwhile, global competition is roiling the U.S. economy. Failing to meet the need for a better-educated workforce will have dire consequences for citizens’ ability to earn living wages.

A generation ago, the United States had the best-educated population in the world. Today, the country ranks 10th among industrialized countries in the percentage of its citizens 25- to 34-year-olds with college degrees. The good news is that educating a greater share of the U.S. population does not have to cost a lot more. The country already spends at least twice as much as the average industrialized nation per student. Better investment, with a focus on productivity, should generate better results.

The Strategies

Lumina’s College Productivity Initiative relies on three strategies:

• Build leadership and demand for a productivity agenda within public higher education.
• Equip higher education leaders, business leaders, and policymakers with tools and data that can help make higher education more productive.
• Work within states to identify cost-effective ways of graduating more students.

Significant new public investment in higher education is unlikely without evidence of a commitment by colleges and universities to changing the way they do business without sacrificing quality. Maintaining quality means graduating many more people without diluting the skill and knowledge attainment signified by the awarding of two- and four-year degrees.

The Agenda

The Productivity Agenda consists of three priorities for work within states:

• Recast state finance systems to reward institutions for graduating students, not just enrolling them.
• Increase the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of academic programs and administrative operations.
• Align resources in ways that allow institutions to serve more students.

Increasing productivity could mean looking to other countries or industries for solutions. The United States needs educational models capable of reaching many more students, especially those toughest to serve. Many students arrive at college more poorly prepared than in the past and will need extra assistance to succeed. Often, these students are minorities, first-generation college goers, students from low-income families, and working adults. Serving these students, who will comprise the bulk of the U.S. workforce in years ahead, is likely to require new approaches.

For more information, contact:

Nancy Hoffman, [email protected], 617.728.4446