The courseware provider’s impact in higher education on both students and faculty showcases its commitment to creating equitable outcomes for all.

Portland, Oregon / October 18, 2022 – Lumen Learning, a leading provider of higher education teaching and learning materials focused on improving student outcomes and removing race and income as predictors of student success, today announced its 10th anniversary since its founding by CEO and Co-Founder Kim Thanos and Chief Academic Officer and Co-Founder Dr. David Wiley. 

With 2022 as its most pivotal year to date, Lumen announced in April it was awarded a prestigious competitive grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to further its groundbreaking work in creating and implementing equitable courseware focused specifically on eliminating race and income as predictors of success and establishing relatable courseware for underserved students of Black, Hispanic, Indigenous and low-income backgrounds. Lumen’s results-backed actions around effectively supporting minority students in this capacity is a first in the industry, something no one else is doing. Lumen was awarded the grant because of its long history of creating change in higher education and its promising strategy of integrating faculty professional development directly within its courseware. 

To further its work, Lumen has partnered with Rockland Community College and Santa Ana College, both with large minority student bases, to establish on-campus student testing centers. Lumen is also working with Howard University’s Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning & Assessment (CETLA) faculty and staff who are providing guidance and direction for the courseware, as well as with The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) to effectively scale the courseware to universities across the United States. To date, over 980 institutions have adopted Lumen’s courseware nationwide.

“Over the past decade, one constant remains: We’ve stayed true to our roots of creating and delivering courseware that helps students and faculty achieve their greatest potential,” says Kim Thanos, co-founder and CEO of Lumen Learning. “We could not have achieved outstanding success without the dedication of our talented team and the support of our customer community. Our passion for finding solutions and pioneering innovative user- and equity-centered learning comes through in everything that we do.”

Lumen Learning was founded with the overarching goal of achieving better results for students by working closely with faculty while simultaneously reducing costs for its users. Over time, recognizing more could be done for students, Lumen transitioned its focus from cost savings to tackling more difficult and complex issues to advance equity for all students. The company has set industry benchmarks through its commitment to increasing equity, access, and affordability in higher education while addressing the issues faced by students of underserved and underrepresented backgrounds. Since its founding, over 12,600 faculty have adopted Lumen’s courseware, and its open educational resources have garnered over 1 billion views.

Another major focus for Lumen is its faculty professional development platform, Lumen Circles, which uses virtual learning communities to connect faculty members with peers to help them hone their expertise as student-centered teachers. Lumen has created timely and relevant materials that are grounded in evidence-based practices to enhance effective teaching and learning, ultimately increasing student success. Over 1,000 faculty fellows have completed Lumen Circles; the most popular program to date is Belonging & Inclusive Teaching Fundamentals where over 300 fellows have completed the program. 

For the 2022 fall semester, Lumen Learning has hit its largest enrollment milestone thus far with over 150,000 enrollments. Over the past 10 years, total savings for students has topped over $160 million as more than 1.6 million students have used Lumen’s courseware, reinforcing Lumen Learning’s significant role in the edtech space and its overall mission to support and help students through equitable courseware. 

“I am extremely honored to be on a mission of enabling unprecedented learning for each and every student who uses our courseware as we continue to sharpen our focus on eliminating race and income as predictors of success,” said Dr. David Wiley, co-founder and chief academic officer for Lumen Learning. “Our entire team is committed to eliminating the gap that has historically affected so many students in higher education, and I look forward to the exciting work ahead as we pioneer solutions to create equity for all.”

Since its inception, Lumen has been building a world-class team to deepen understanding and accountability of evolving the student learning experience and meaningfully impacting the predictors of success. Most recently, Lumen created a unique team that is primarily focused on tackling both internal and external equity and inclusion initiatives. The company is entirely remote and currently has 79 employees spanning 28 states. Of all its employees, 57 employees live outside of Oregon, showcasing its desire to hire and retain top talent across the United States. 

Dr. David Wiley was recently nominated for EdScoop’s Industry Leader of the Year for pioneering change in higher education with unique solutions and a commitment to the industry. 

 

 

 

About Lumen Learning

Since 2012, Lumen Learning has partnered with colleges and universities to support teaching and learning innovation with a focus on improving affordability, access, and student success.

Lumen Waymaker and OHM digital courseware provide evidence-based learning design and data-driven content improvements to increase learning and student engagement using open educational resources (OER).

Lumen Circles provide faculty professional development to build skills and advance teaching practices. Grounded in research about how to increase learning and student success and delivered through peer-based virtual learning groups, Lumen Circles provide a supportive setting for faculty to expand their capabilities for teaching in dynamic educational environments.

Over 500 institutions across the U.S. are using Lumen-supported digital courseware for in-person, online, and blended courses. Materials created by Lumen are published under Creative Commons Attribution licenses and contributed back to the education community. Learn more at lumenlearning.com, and visit our course catalog at lumenlearning.com/courses.

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