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Historically Black Colleges & Universities
SAS is committed to partnerships and enablement with HBCUs
Developing the workforce of tomorrow that reflects our world
For over 150 years, HBCUs have been an integral source of graduating Black and African American talent while preparing them for meaningful and successful careers. Founded out of necessity, these colleges and universities provided educational opportunities that were otherwise severely limited prior to the Civil Rights Act. Since then, rigorous standards for academic excellence have produced highly notable alumni. Today, there are 101 HBCUs – with over 300,000 students – that continue to attract top talent and have grown to become some of the most diversely populated universities across America.
Ten of these HBCUs are in North Carolina, home to SAS world headquarters. These schools embody inclusion, enrolling Black and non-Black students, as well as a high number of multi-generational students and veterans. HBCUs produce 27% of all Black or African American STEM graduates, and 40% of Black or African American engineers. HBCUs are a major force diversifying the STEM field and are vital to growing the next-generation workforce.
Hear from some of the HBCU alumni now making a difference at SAS
Strengthening HBCU partnerships
CEO Roundtable on Cancer
SAS partners with The CEO Roundtable on Cancer, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization working to eliminate cancer by reducing risk, enabling early diagnosis, facilitating access to the best treatments, and accelerating discovery of novel and more effective anti-cancer therapies. The “Going for Gold” Initiative is a multi-year strategic partnership between corporations and HBCUs and HSIs (Hispanic Serving Institutions) to elevate the health of those disproportionately affected by cancer. We build relationships with students at partnering universities who focus on science, medicine and health care, offering opportunities to our internship programs.
HBCU Invitational
The SAS Championship, a PGA Tour Champions event for over 20 years, in collaboration with the PGA Tour and the Black College Golf Coaches Association, announced a new event for 2022 as part of its annual PGA Tour Champions tournament – the HBCU Invitational. The SAS Championship HBCU Invitational welcomes up to 18 teams, both men’s and women’s, from leading Historically Black Colleges & Universities to come to Cary to compete in the tournament.
SAS hosts a Career Day on our campus on the Friday before the tournament. The student-athletes tour the SAS campus and participate in a series of panel discussions, seminars, and lunch with SAS executives and HBCU alumni employees designed to help prepare them for their careers after golf. The HBCU Invitational is one way that SAS and the PGA are strengthening strategic partnerships with HBCUs to develop the talent of the future.
HBCU Partnership Challenge
In 2019, SAS took the HBCU Partnership Challenge created by the Congressional Bipartisan HBCU Caucus, founded and co-chaired by Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, PhD. The challenge is a public pledge to engage in conversations with HBCUs, businesses, and lawmakers about investing in and taking action to support, develop and retain HBCU graduates.
"HBCUs have educated and produced graduates who contribute to the vitality of our nation and economy. At SAS, our employees from HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions add tremendous value to the fabric of our company and the equitable technology solutions we seek to develop. And our diverse workforce brings together unique talents and abilities that inspire teams to create software that can change the world." Jim Goodnight CEO SAS
Equipping and enabling HBCU educators and students
SAS Academic Programs
SAS Academic Programs works with higher education institutions to meet the unprecedented demand for early-career analytics talent by offering a variety of free resources to help educators teach and use SAS® software, help students learn SAS, and ensure SAS customers can hire the top early-career talent they need to be successful.
SAS Academic Programs provides free resources to develop analytical skills that prepare students for a fruitful career. These free resources include video tutorials, e-learning courses, and cloud-based software to help with programming, statistics, modeling and visual analytics. There's even access to an interactive online community with forums and software support. Students and faculty can find these resources via SAS Skill Builder for Students and the SAS Educator Portal.
The SAS Academic Programs team is currently collaborating with the following HBCUs in support of their efforts to advance teaching and learning analytics: Fayetteville State University’s Broadwell College of Business and Economics; North Carolina Central University’s School of Business; Virginia State University’s Reginald F. Lewis College of Business; Meharry Medical College’s School of Applied Computational Sciences; and The Atlanta University Center Data Science Initiative. To learn more, contact academic@sas.com.
SAS HBCU+ Fellows Program
The SAS HBCU+ Fellows Program supports educators at HBCUs and Predominately Black Institutions (PBIs) by helping integrate analytical tools into their academic programs. Those who are selected for the HBCU+ Fellows Program receive customized support for integrating analytics into their curriculum, technical guidance, and opportunities to network with experts. Fellows participate in quarterly training and professional development events aimed at advancing their analytics skills and identifying resources for teaching data analytics in their disciplines. To learn more, contact us.
More resources
Let's deepen our existing partnerships and develop new ones
The SAS Education Practice proudly partners with many HBCUs, Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), and other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). SAS currently partners with 40 HBCUs with engagements focused on strategic enrollment management, institutional research, developing a comprehensive data and analytics strategy, and maximizing academic research and innovation. SAS also has teaching and research education licenses at many HBCUs, providing professors with the ability to teach SAS in the classroom and offering students and faculty software to advance their research.