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December 14, 2018

Ranking Member Johnson’s Statement on Minority-Serving Institutions Academies Report

(Washington, DC) – Yesterday, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a new report entitled, “Minority Serving Institutions: America’s Underutilized Resource for Strengthening the Stem Workforce.” This report examines strategies to best equip minority-serving institutions (MSIs) capitalize on their unique strengths of providing higher education to underrepresented students of color and low-income backgrounds with the resources, faculty talent, and infrastructure to educate and train the next generation of STEM professionals.

Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) released the following statement.

“The report released yesterday is an important one. Minority-serving institutions serve an out-sized role in educating students in the STEM fields, producing one-fifth of the nation’s STEM bachelor’s degrees. I am proud that in my home state of Texas MSIs account for more than 1/3 of the state’s postsecondary institutions.

“The importance of MSIs in preparing students for the STEM workforce will only increase as our nation’s demographics continue to change. It is incumbent upon us to ensure that we are taking full advantage of MSIs to help grow our nation’s STEM workforce and address the challenges of tomorrow.

“As I look to re-introduce my bill, the STEM Opportunities Act, in the new Congress, I will pay close attention to the recommendations in this report as we consider how we can continue to strengthen that legislation and other STEM legislation before our Committee.”