Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Thursday announced an ambitious education plan designed to fill thousands of new tech jobs expected to arise in the metro area – largely due to Amazon HQ2.
The agreement with 11 universities, called the Tech Talent Investment Program, aims to produce 31,000 new computer science graduates in the state over 20 years.
"Virginia's tech sector will continue booming only if we can train the workforce those jobs require," Northam said in a statement. "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."
To participate in the new program, colleges applied to the state for funding to expand their computer science degree offerings. State officials said subsequent agreements will include other institutions, including community colleges.
Schools receiving funds, along with the number of additional degrees they committed to produce, include: Virginia Tech (5,911), University of Virginia (3,416), George Mason (2,277), William & Mary (930), Old Dominion (765), Virginia Commonwealth University (722), James Madison (467), Radford (394), Christopher Newport (392), Virginia State (186) and Norfolk State (126).
Virginia Tech and George Mason are also committing to adding thousands of master's degrees through the program, with 10,324 and 5,328, respectively. That means 75% of the total degrees are expected to come from the two universities with a presence in Northern Virginia.
Virginia Tech will receive about $545 million and Mason will nab $235 million in state funding over 20 years to meet their goals, the Washington Business Journal reports.
“The Tech Talent program creates clear pathways for Virginia students to obtain high-wage jobs by equipping them with the necessary skills to succeed in high-demand fields,” Virginia Secretary of Education Atif Qarni said in a statement. “This agreement with many of our public higher education institutions will support business and industry in Virginia, while preparing our students to enter the 21st century workforce.”
The new program isn't the only way Virginia Tech and Mason are preparing the techies of tomorrow.
Virginia Tech is opening a $1 billion Innovation Campus in Alexandria that's expected to start classes in temporary space early next year, and George Mason is working on an Amazon-inspired "innovation district" in Arlington.
For more on those and other universities bolstering their tech talent pipelines ahead of HQ2's arrival, click here.
