Virginia Launches Initiative to Fund CS Degrees

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has announced a new program to create 31,000 new computer science graduates over 20 years through funding programs with 11 universities across the state. Funding for the initiative was approved by the Virginia legislature earlier this year.

The Tech Talent Investment Program is performance-based initiative that is designed to create at least 25,000 new bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science and related fields. The initiative is direct response to the new Amazon headquarters that will be built in Northern Virginia

"This initiative is an investment in Virginians," said Northam. "Virginia's tech sector will continue booming only if we can train the workforce those jobs require. With today's announcement, we are educating a workforce that will fill jobs at hundreds of tech companies around the Commonwealth, including at Amazon, helping boost our economy and quality of life in every corner of Virginia."

The first round of colleges and universities receiving funds and the degrees over their baseline that they have committed to produce are:

About the Author

Sara Friedman is a reporter/producer for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe covering education policy and a wide range of other public-sector IT topics.

Friedman is a graduate of Ithaca College, where she studied journalism, politics and international communications.

Friedman can be contacted at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @SaraEFriedman.

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