Virginia Education Ranked No. 1
For Immediate Release: July 16, 2024
Contact: Jesse Vaughan, Chief Communications & Marketing Officer/jvaughan@rbc.edu
According to CNBC, Virginia’s education system is ranked No. 1 in the country. This is attributed to the Governor Glenn Youngkin administration’s efforts to restore rigor and excellence to both K-12 and higher education.
“We reestablished expectations of excellence with intensive tutoring, adopting the science of reading, launching lab schools and renewing the focus on career and technical education,” Youngkin said in his State of the Commonwealth address in January.
The Virginia General Assembly reached a bipartisan decision to invest $2.5 billion in K-12 schools, as well as provide three percent pay raises for teachers and state workers in the 2024-25 state budget.
State support for higher education increased by roughly 30 percent over the last five years, according to the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association. Additionally, state institutions have successfully bridged education to the workforce via paid internships and work-based learning experiences.
Richard Bland College of William & Mary has paved the way in this regard with its dedication to STEM-H (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Health Sciences) innovation. The Academic Innovation Center, slated to open in the fall, will have myriad resources for delivering STEM-H research and education.
Additionally, DroneUp—a leading Virginia Beach-based drone flight services innovator and aviation technology provider—has trained more than 200 drone operators on RBC’s campus at the Drone Flight Academy. The company has pledged to invest roughly $20 million—which is projected to create 145 new jobs—to establish a testing, training and R&D (Research & Development) center on campus grounds.
From an economic impact perspective, the VBHEC (Virginia Business Higher Education Council) recently reported RBC contributed $43 million in GDP and $3 million in tax revenue contributions to the Commonwealth’s economy. This can largely be credited to the influx of RBC graduates continuing their education at four-year universities or entering the workforce. The college’s expenditures and human capital components account for the rest of the revenue contributions.
“The DroneUp Flight Academy plus an array of STEM-H projects and partnerships has solidified Richard Bland College as a hub for innovation and advancement,” said President Debbie L. Sydow, Ph.D. “RBC has established a new model for higher education in the Commonwealth through ‘earn and learn’ initiatives, supporting the Greater Petersburg workforce and beyond.”
The Commonwealth has been named “America’s Top State for Business” by the CNBC study three of the last five years and a total of six times.
CNBC uses 10 categories, ranging from infrastructure to technology & innovation, in its annual state competitiveness rankings. This year, Virginia finished in the top half or better in each of the categories.
Click here to read the CNBC article.
