President Cevallos Attends White House Summit on College Opportunity

President Cevallos Attends White House Summit on College Opportunity

Jul 14, 2015

Framingham State University President F. Javier Cevallos joined President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden, along with hundreds of college presidents and other higher education leaders, to announce new actions to help more students prepare for and graduate from college.

The White House College Opportunity Day of Action helps to support the President Obama’s commitment to partner with colleges and universities, business leaders, and nonprofits to support students across the country to help our nation reach its goal of leading the world in college attainment.

During the summit, FSU pledged to take steps to retain and graduate more students in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

“Massachusetts is known for its innovation economy,” President Cevallos said. “The STEM subjects represent areas of tremendous job potential for our students. We want to make sure we are doing everything we can to ensure students succeed in these areas and we are grateful to have the support of President Obama and his administration in this effort.”

Framingham State is aiming to increase STEM major retention rates by nearly 10 percent over the next five years.
“Massachusetts is facing a significant shortage of highly educated employees in the areas of science and math,” says Dr. Margaret Carroll, Dean of FSU’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. “The University has done a good job in recent years of increasing enrollment in these important subjects, but more can be done to retain these students and ensure they graduate.”

Participants in the White House Summit were asked to commit to new action in one of four areas: building networks of colleges around promoting completion, creating K-16 partnerships around college readiness, investing in high school counselors as part of the First Lady’s Reach Higher initiative, and increasing the number of college graduates in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

About Framingham State University

Framingham State University was founded in 1839 as the nation’s first public university for the education of teachers. Since that time, it has evolved into a vibrant, comprehensive liberal arts institution offering small, personalized classes on a beautiful New England campus. Today, the University enrolls more than 6,000 students with 58 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the arts, humanities, sciences, social sciences and professional fields. As a State College and University (SCU), Framingham State prides itself on quality academic programs, affordability, and commitment to access for all qualified students.