The lumina foundation misses its opportunity: the fallacy of Lumina's claim is evident to anyone who has looked at Education Department enrollment data. (Controversy).

DESPITE THE BEST INTENTIONS OF ITS AUTHORS, the lumina Foundation report "Unequal Opportunity Disparities of College Access Among the 50 States" fails to offer a valid measure of, or any meaningful insight into, the state of access and affordability in higher education. Inaccuracies, questionable assumptions, and analytical distortions sabotage its credibility and negate the pos sibility that the report can provide a basis for constructive dialogue among policymakers and higher education leaders.

A quick look at some of the institutions deemed "inadmissible" or "unaffordable" by the Indianabased lumina Foundation offers a window into the report's shortcomings. The contrast between reality and the report's findings could not be starker.

* While the lumina Foundation identifies Alice lloyd (KY) as "unaffordable" for low- and median-income dependent students, fully 97 percent of Alice lloyd's students pay no tuition. The institution is one of the nation's "work colleges," where students pay their tuition by working at the college. In 1999-2000, the average loan was $200.

* Last year, Princeton University generated national headlines by using $4 million a year from its endowment to eliminate, through grants from the university, loans for undergraduates who receive financial aid. The decision will affect nearly 25 percent of Princeton's undergraduates, all of whom could graduate debt-free. According to the lumina Foundation, however, Princeton is "unaffordable" for all categories of students.

* Trinity College, located in Washington, D.C., is dedicated to the education of women, with a special emphasis on accessibility for low-income students. In 1999-2000, the college met 90 percent of need for all freshmen who demonstrated it. Yet, the lumina Foundation calls Trinity "unaffordable" for all categories of students.

* Every student at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science

and Art (NY) receives a full-tuition scholarship. However, the lumina Foundation labels Cooper Union "unaffordable" for lowincome and median-income independent students.

And the list goes on. The lumina Foundation report finds only 25 of the nation's 1,600 private colleges and universities to be "admissible," "affordable," or "affordable with loans." The fallacy of this claim is evident to anyone who has looked at Education Department enrollment data. The percentage of low-income and minority students enrolled by independent four-year colleges and universities is nearly identical to the percentage enrolled by their public-sector counterparts. In addition, these students are also almost twice as likely to graduate on time from private colleges as from public institutions.

No one in the field of higher education denies that colleges and universities face serious challenges over the next decade, as the number of college-age students (many of them low-income and the first in their family to consider higher education) explodes. However, in labeling most of the nation's private colleges and universities "inadmissible" and "unaffordable" (despite national data that indicate otherwise), the report does a disservice to institutions that have committed their funds, ingenuity, and student aid policies to assuring that a college education is possible for all who qualify academically. And, most tragically, it dampens the hopes of the very students the foundation is trying to help.

In its next study, I hope that the lumina Foundation will do better on behalf of the nation's neediest students.

The editors of this magazine welcome reaction to this reader's opinion, and invite readers to submit other issues of interest.for publication. E-mail your submission to [e-mail].