Bill Gates Donates $20 Million to Education

Bill Gates recently announced he feels that many students aren’t prepared to enter college. The answer? More technology training.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced on October 11, 2010 that it would donate $20 million in grants to businesses and universities. These grants will be used to develop online programs that will train students in the basic skills they will need in college.
Why does Bill Gates think all students need a basic and thorough understanding of technology? Simply put, students need to understand technology so they can compete in the job market.
“By 2018, more than six in 10 jobs will require some sort of post secondary education,” according to a release from the foundation. “For millions of Americans, a post secondary credential is a ticket out of poverty and into the middle class.”
The Bill & Melinda Gates foundation has four main goals:
1. Improve post secondary performance. This includes giving more students higher education opportunities and offering alternative types of delivery methods, such as online classes.
2. Empower student success. This goal means to help students make good decisions about their education and their future careers. Students who demonstrate financial need also receive scholarships because of this goal.
3. Build commitment. This goal includes making college completion a national priority.
4. Build knowledge. This includes learning about current trends in higher education. This new knowledge could be used to make the other goals more effective.
“At the foundation, our goal is to dramatically increase the number of young people who graduate high school ready for college and career and who go on to complete a post secondary degree or certificate,” the press release said.
It sounds like this donation will accomplish these goals quite well.
Via Forbes.com