Apple has today announced that it is awarding "innovation grants" worth five million dollars to four historically black colleges and universities (HBCU), as reported by USA Today.
Alabama A&M University, Howard University, Morgan State University, and Prairie View A&M University will receive the grants as part of Apple's wider $100 million Racial Equity and Justice Initiative that was announced earlier this year.
The grants, set to be issued over a three-year period, are part of Apple's New Silicon Initiative. The scheme is intended to help students prepare for careers in hardware technology and chip design. The grants will support each university's engineering school and help expand emerging hardware technology courses. Apple's vice president of environment, policy, and social initiatives, Lisa Jackson, said in a statement:
The HBCU community is home to incredible Black talent and we are thrilled to work alongside these universities to enhance the opportunities for their students. We know many jobs of the future will be in innovative areas like silicon engineering and we want to help ensure the leaders of tomorrow have access to transformational learning opportunities.
The "innovation grants" will also include select scholarships, fellowship opportunities, and internships at Apple, giving students the opportunity to engage with Apple engineers and learn from their experience.
