Eleven universities in Virginia are being assured with around $ one billion in state funding, the goal is to produce more tech graduates for the next 20 years.
Funding for Universities in Virginia
Legislators in Virginia assured eleven universities in their state around $ one billion in state funding. Universities on focus are those who are rich in technology-based programs. The state is setting a goal of producing an additional 31,000 tech-related graduates for the next 20 years.
The new goal is set from its former target of 25,000 graduates by 2039. Annually, public universities in Virginia produce around 1,300 bachelor’s degrees and 400 master’s degrees in computer-related courses.
Amazon in Virginia
What adds up to the urgency in promoting technology-based programs in the state is the proposed plan of Amazon to set-up a second headquarters in Arlington County, Virginia. With this huge announcement from a multinational technology company, it is expected that it will bring in thousands of job opportunities upon its completion. The state of Virginia wants to maximize this opportunity for its townsfolk, by filling in job vacancies from their local pool of talents.
Since Amazon is mostly on cloud-based computing, technology-related courses such as computer science will be highly in demand.
11 universities in Virginia to receive state funding
In order to meet the demand for computer science graduates, 11 universities are tapped by the government to share the $961.5 million state budget for the next 20 years. Funds will be awarded annually and will be subjected to conditions that these universities must meet in order to continue on with the funding program.
According to Governor Ralph Northam,
Virginia’s tech sector is expected to boom if we are able to train the right amount of workforce that job vacancies require. This is an initiative investment for Virginians. We are setting up our state to supply the needed workforce for hundreds of tech companies that will be investing in Virginia, including Amazon.
The following are the 11 universities in Virginia where state funding will be allotted to. (Order is budget-oriented)
- Virginia Tech
- George Mason University
- University of Virginia
- College of William & Mary
- Old Dominion University
- Virginia Commonwealth University
- James Madison University
- Radford University
- Christopher Newport University
- Virginia State University
- Norfolk State University
Top tier Universities Virginia Tech and George Mason are expected to lead this expansion in tech programs and produce new facilities to accommodate more enrollees.
The future looks very bright for Virginia’s tech industry if this investment pushes through.
Anne Holton, interim president of George Mason expresses her gratitude for the state investment, saying,
We are grateful that state officials confide with our ability to deliver quality talent in the filed of technology for the decades to come.
Featured Image by Extremetech
