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Higher-ed tech programs helped to lure Amazon

Amy Scott Nov 14, 2018
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GUILLAUME SOUVANT/AFP/Getty Images

Higher-ed tech programs helped to lure Amazon

Amy Scott Nov 14, 2018
GUILLAUME SOUVANT/AFP/Getty Images
HTML EMBED:
COPY

Tech talent was a major draw for Amazon in selecting New York City and Northern Virginia for its new headquarters. Both locations have existing pools of skilled workers; both are places where talent wants to live. But the colleges and universities producing the pipeline of much of that talent were also a significant draw. Notably, New York City’s Cornell Tech campus is located directly across from Amazon’s future home in Long Island City, while Virginia Tech just announced it’s building a new billion-dollar Innovation Campus a couple of miles from Amazon’s new Arlington location.

Virginia Tech

  • Location: Blacksburg, Virginia
  • Established: 1872
  • Campus environment: Rural/college town
  • Type: Public, undergraduate and graduate
  • Annual graduate resident tuition: $15,510
  • Annual graduate nonresident tuition: $29,629
  • Total student body: 34,440
  • U.S. News ranking: #76 in national universities

Cornell Tech

  • Location: Roosevelt Island, New York
  • Established: 2012
  • Campus environment: Urban
  • Type: Private, graduate
  • Annual tuition: $54,584-$102,652 (depending on program)
  • Total student body: Approximately 300 in 2017
  • U.S. News ranking: N/A

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