Often, many students aren’t exposed to the different opportunities they can partake in throughout college to help them secure a job once they graduate. Read on to learn more about how NASA and The White House are partnering to bridge this gap for students interested in STEM careers.

The White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through Historically Black Colleges and Universities is forming a partnership with NASA to “foster innovation and hands-on experiences for HBCU Scholars.” Sinc 2014, NASA has organized programming to allow students to access to their networks, training, partners, and other resources. 

With this new partnership between NASA and the White House’s HBCU Initiative, the Mini Minority University Research and Education (MUREP) Innovation Tech Idea Competition (MITTIC) will officially become a part of the HBCU Scholars Program. The revitalized program will have its first cohort later this year. Participants will have the chance to work with NASA’s Intellectual Property to discover ways to commercialize their technology. At the conclusion of the program, students will present their team’s pitches at the National HBCU Week Conference. 

Torry Johnson, an employee at NASA, made the following statement about the new partnership and program (via Homeroom):

“Since 2018, MITTIC has provided students at Minority Serving Institutions a glimpse into NASA’s Technology Transfer Program and a unique opportunity to explore their entrepreneurial interests using NASA’s technology portfolio. NASA is excited to formalize our participation in the White House Initiative’s HBCU Scholar Recognition Program with the Mini MITTIC program.”

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