Apple today announced that it is expanding its existing partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and will add 10 more HBCU regional coding centers that will serve as technology hubs for their campuses and broader communities.
The effort is part of Apple’s Community Education Initiative, launched last year, is designed to bring coding, creativity, and workforce development opportunities to learners of all ages.
Apple last month launched a new Racial Equity and Justice Initiative focused on challenging systemic barriers to opportunity for communities of color by advancing education, economic equality, and criminal justice reform efforts.
”Apple is committed to working alongside communities of color to advance educational equity,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. “We see this expansion of our Community Education Initiative and partnership with HBCUs as another step toward helping Black students realize their dreams and solve the problems of tomorrow.”
Apple’s Community Education Initiative now extends to 24 locations across the US — 12 of which are HBCUs and 21 of which predominately serve majority Black and Brown students. These partnerships have already introduced thousands of students and adult learners to coding and app design, using “Apple’s Everyone Can Code” and “Everyone Can Create” curricula.
Ten HBCUs, which have been working alongside Apple and Tennessee State University for the past year, will now become hubs to promote coding in their broader communities: Arkansas Baptist College, Central State University, Claflin University, Dillard University, Fisk University, Lawson State Community College, Morehouse College, Prairie View A&M University, Southern University at Shreveport, and Tougaloo College. Apple expects to double the number of HBCU partners by the end of this summer.
