NWSCC & Lumina - Part II

 

On the surface, it sounds great that NWSCC was one of ten recipients of branding grants given away by the Lumina Foundation in 2022. Yet what is Lumina? According to its website: Lumina Foundation is an independent, private foundation committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all.

That certainly sounds commendable, but what else does its website say? Not very much; you still won't know what Lumina is by simply looking at its website. Plus, what does branding have to do with helping students beyond the high school level?

What does better branding do? It can, in some instances, cause a young person to look more deeply at a college site. Rather similar to cigarette and beer packaging, isn't it? Lure the customers in and all that.

But are students customers? Let's see if Wikipedia tells us anything more about Lumina. It seems Lumina was formed initially in 2000 from funds resulting from the sale of USA Group to what's commonly called Sallie Mae, a student loan marketing group.

At this time Lumina claims that its main thrust is to assure 60% of new high school graduates seek a college or comparable education by 2025. Is this totally altruistic?

Not only has Lumina been accused of promoting student loans, some say it also promotes leftist organizations including  Anti-Recidivism Coalition, Community Partners, the SEIU 1199 Training and Upgrading Fund, the Century Foundation, Demos, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, the Center for American Progress (CAP), the Bipartisan Policy Center, the Brookings Institution, Business Roundtable, Center for Law and Social Policy, and the New Venture Fund (NVF).

We are not sure the "leftist" organizations listed are even mildly reprehensible. We are sure that first time students enrolling in community colleges are likely customers for those who "sell" student loans. More students, more money to be made from loans.

It would be interesting to know if Lumina has provided grants to other local colleges/universities and its involvement with them. Read: Influence.

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This is Phantom. He's five months old and his breed isn't specified, but we suspect Lab mix. Whatever his lineage, he's adorable. You can adopt Phantom at the Florence shelter in the industrial park: