Higher ed leaders can learn what 6,000 current students, 3,000 people who stopped out, and 3,000 more who never enrolled in a U.S. college or university say their barriers have been to finishing their education over three years. The results come from a study by the Lumina Foundation called “The State of Higher Ed” in partnership with Gallup.

In the first of a two-part podcast episode, Dr. Drumm McNaughton talks with one of The State of Higher Ed’s leading architects, VP of Impact and Planning Dr. Courtney Brown of the Lumina Foundation, an independent private foundation that increased the number of states with attainment goals from one in 2008 to 48 today. It has also played a significant role in boosting the percentage of people in the U.S. with post-secondary credentials from 38% to 84% during the same period.

Dr. Brown discusses how “The State of Higher Ed” was conducted, what questions were asked, and why students wanted to stop out in 2020, 2021, and 2022. Other discussion topics include how to access Lumina Foundation’s attainment tool and the Foundation’s three concentrations.

Podcast Highlights

• The Lumina Foundation partnered with Gallup for The State of Higher Ed and conducted the research in Fall 2020, 2021, and 2022. Early in the pandemic, participants were either unsure if they wanted to stay enrolled or still thinking about enrolling, but health and COVID concerns were at the forefront. People still valued post-secondary education and wanted to come back. In 2020, health concerns were the top reason for students thinking of stopping out.
• In 2021, a large percentage of students said they were still thinking about stopping out, but the top reason was emotional stress. That number almost doubled from the year before. Reasons for the emotional stress included working full time, worrying about their family, and struggling to make ends meet. In the fall of 2022, a high percentage of students still considered stopping out because of emotional stress.
• The Lumina Foundation, which ensures more people of color have opportunities not just to pursue but successfully complete a high-quality credential, releases an annual online tool called Stronger Nation, which breaks down where every state is regarding attainment by race and ethnicity. Since 2008, the Lumina Foundation has increased the number of states with an attainment goal from one to 48.
• The Lumina Foundation has three different concentration areas: getting more people to enroll in post-secondary education, keeping them enrolled, and ensuring they complete a post-secondary credential that is high-quality, employment-aligned, and not dead ends.

Read the transcript →

About Our Podcast Guest – Dr. Courtney Brown

Courtney Brown, Ph.D., is vice president of impact and planning for Lumina Foundation, an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis committed to making learning opportunities beyond high school available to all. As the chief data and research officer, Brown oversees the Foundation’s strategic planning, learning, impact, and effectiveness efforts. She also leads Lumina’s international engagement.

She joined the foundation in 2011 with a strong background in performance measurement, research, and evaluation. Before 2011, Brown was a senior research associate at the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy at Indiana University. There, she led studies and evaluations focused on education and post-high school programs within the United States and across Europe.

Brown is a frequent speaker and panelist in the United States and other countries regarding postsecondary strategy, student success, data-driven decision-making, and evidence-based practices. She has developed and shared manuals, working papers, articles, and books on undergraduate research, performance measurement, randomized control trials, and other evaluation methods. She has also conducted webinars and workshops on evaluation, performance measurement, and success in education beyond high school.

Dr. Courtney Brown on LinkedIn →

About the Host

Dr. Drumm McNaughton, the host of Changing Higher Ed®, is a consultant to higher ed institutions in governance, accreditation, strategy and change, and mergers. To learn more about his services and other thought leadership pieces, visit his firm’s website, https://changinghighered.com/.

The Change Leader’s Social Media Links

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/
• Twitter: @thechangeldr
• Email: [email protected]

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