Acting Deputy Secretary of Education Jim Shelton will travel to Silicon Valley tomorrow to give keynote remarks at the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Innovation Summit. He will discuss how HBCUs can serve as hubs for educational innovation.
HBCUs have played an important role in our nation's history and they continue to provide pathways of opportunity for students across our country, as we move toward our goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020. Ensuring these schools have the resources they need to help students reach their potential is a top priority for the Obama Administration, which has taken steps to keep these institutions strong, including providing funding for infrastructure and technology and increasing investments in Pell Grants.
The summit will help launch the HBCU Center for Innovation, Commercialization and Entrepreneurship platform, which is a centerpiece of the United Negro College Fund’s STEM initiative. The event will convene HBCU leadership and stakeholders in Silicon Valley to discuss approaches to research and development, commercialization, venture creation and technology entrepreneurship on campuses.