Georgia programs receive Lumina grant to streamline path to college

Two Georgia institutions have been chosen to receive part of $3.5 million in funding from the Lumina Foundation to simplify the journey from high school to college.

The Governor’s Office of Student Achievement was chosen to receive funds to integrate financial aid, career exploration and transcript movement into Georgia MATCH, and the Technical College System of Georgia was chosen to receive funds to pilot a streamlined credit for prior learning process tied to admissions.

Scot Lingrell, project lead for Georgia’s Career Navigator Project, said the “GEORGIA MATCH” program has already helped many high school seniors.

“There’s a group of students that didn’t ever go to college,” Lingrell said. “Now we expect because they’re going to be admitted so directly that more students will go to college because now they know very quickly and they know the institutions for which they’re eligible.”

Enrollment in the program has grown tremendously over the past three years, outpacing the national average. The program covers all 22 technical colleges and 22 of 25 universities in Georgia.

Melanie Heath is the strategy director of access for the Lumina Foundation. She said the traditional application process to colleges and universities creates unnecessary pressure for students.

“I think that’s a hugely problematic piece of how we in higher ed have designed this college-going journey,” Heath said. “Not only does it impact how students feel about college through all of this uncertainty, I think it also impacts how they feel about their future and what’s possible for them.”

In the U.S., 28 states are implementing admissions redesigns impacting nearly 70% of high school students, and Georgia’s agencies are two of 10 new grantees in Lumina’s 2026 cohort.