Lumina Aims to Further College Completion With Venture-Capital Investment

By Eric Kelderman

The Lumina Foundation for Education has become one of the best-known philanthropies in higher education, awarding millions of dollars each year in grants for programs that are meant to improve college-completion rates while maintaining the quality of degrees.

The usual recipients of those grants—nearly $48-million in 2011—have been higher-education associations, accreditors, institutions, and states. The money has been directed toward policies and practices that Lumina