Perspectives
Which region in the country has the most 2021 March Madness tournament schools?
You guessed it – and congratulations to the eight schools from Washington, DC, Virginia, and Maryland who are in this year!
Good luck to Georgetown University, Virginia Tech, University of Virginia, Norfolk State University, Liberty University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Mount Saint Mary’s University, and the University of Maryland this year – that would be a fierce Elite Eight. And, good luck to the University of Richmond at the NIT!
Higher education is one of the region’s great strengths – and it’s getting stronger. These eight schools express our area’s remarkable diversity, which is vital to becoming the most inclusive region in the country.
The momentum of these institutions and all of higher ed throughout the region is extraordinary. Here are just a few of the notable recent success stories for universities and colleges in the region:
- Northern Virginia is exploding as the nation’s next great tech innovation center, with substantial commitments from the Commonwealth and Amazon, as well as Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus, George Mason’s Institute for Digital InnovAtion, and the University of Maryland’s Discovery Center.
- Maryland is leading the way in research, with the University of Maryland ranked in the top 20 of all R1 research institutions in the country for the first time – a remarkable achievement. And Johns Hopkins remains one of America’s premier research institutions, notably serving as a critical resource to the global response to the pandemic.
- The University of Maryland Baltimore County regularly graduates more diverse STEM students than any other university in the country – and has for years.
- National and global leaders have recognized the excellence of a Howard University education, recently investing more than $100 million in the institution.
Ed-tech and higher ed innovation are flourishing here, too, through companies like 2U and Strategic Education. The Partnership is proud to be working with all of these and many more organizations through our digital skills and talent programs serving K-12 through college students via our Capital CoLAB initiative.
We have the talent, the jobs, and the collective will to become the most inclusive growth region in the country.
It’s wonderful to be able to go crazy again for March Madness; we will be filling our brackets in with our Fierce Eight, and we invite the rest of the nation to get in on the action!