Lumina Foundation launches initiative to help Latino students graduate

The Lumina Foundation is proud to announce a new partnership with Phoenix College, a member of the Maricopa County Community College District, to increase the educational attainment of a degree within growing Latino populations.

The Lumina Foundation is the nation’s largest foundation dedicated exclusively to increasing students’ access to and success in postsecondary education.

As part of the deal, Lumina will provide a total of $600,000 over a four-year period to Phoenix College to increase the number of Latino students earning a postsecondary degree in the greater Phoenix area. The partnership will leverage community leaders across key policy, education, business and nonprofit sectors to build, implement and sustain successful “place-based efforts” that capitalize on their local talents and ingenuity.

To aid project efforts, Arizona State University will be providing workshops for high school and community college students, parents and employees on the Maricopa to ASU Pathways Program (MAPP), with hopes of making the pathway to a bachelor’s degree clear and seamless.

“We are pleased to work with Phoenix College, and all of the other partnering organizations who are part of Degree Phoenix, to improve Latino student success,” said Maria Hesse, Vice Provost for Academic Partnerships.

Overall, Lumina will be creating 12 partnerships with colleges across the nation.  Some of these include Long Beach City College, Miami Dade College, the University of New Mexico and Southwest Texas Junior College.

“The Latino success project is the culmination of nearly two years of planning and engagement with many foundations and national leaders in the Latino community,” said Lumina President and CEO Jamie Merisotis. “Through these partnerships, we aim to build bridges among leadership groups already working to improve Latino college student success.”