Walton Heirs To Start A New STEM-Focused University In Arkansas
Steuart and Tom Walton, grandsons of Walmart founder Sam Walton, have announced that members of their family are planning to create a new private university that will focus on offering a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) curriculum.
The future school would be located at the location of Walmart's former home office in Bentonville, Arkansas, according to Axios, which first broke the story today. It would be part of a mixed-use development planned for the site.
Development of the new university will be guided by the advice of both local and national education experts. The institution, as of yet unnamed, would offer 'a modern, flexible, and accessible model that is both STEM-focused and business-infused,' according to the announcement.
"Bentonville is the perfect place to spark catalytic change — a community rooted in innovation, entrepreneurship and bold thinking," Steuart Walton said, in a news release. "We have the opportunity to build a new model of higher education, designed for the realities of today's economy and the challenges of tomorrow, and set a new standard for what's possible."
Tom Walton told Axios: "Our grandad, Sam Walton, built Walmart from Bentonville. There's no reason the next great enterprise can't rise from here, too."
The new university would focus on building a skilled STEM workforce, concentrating on globally competitive areas such as automation, logistics, biotech and computing. It would grant stackable credentials in those areas, which could be combined with other degrees a student might earn.
The school expects that its initial class, to be enrolled 'in the coming years,' will consist of about 500 students, with projections that total enrollment could eventually grow to about 1,500 undergraduates and 500 non-degree learners over time. Initial plans call for students' tuition to be fully covered in order to 'attract enterprising candidates with entrepreneurial spirit.'
Today's announcement was made at the Heartland Summit being held this year in Bentonville. The Summit is an annual event organized by Heartland Forward, a non-profit policy think tank that aims to to stimulate economic growth in the central region of the United States.
According to its website, Heartland Forward has a goal of generating $500 million of economic impact for the middle states by 2030 through a focus on four pillars: innovation and entrepreneurship, talent pipelines, health and wellness, and regional competitiveness.
"Universities are among the most important knowledge assets for cities and states, shaping the economic prospects of their regions and the nation overall," said Ross DeVol, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Heartland Forward.
Devol added that creating a new STEM-focused university in Bentonville would represent 'a bold step to strengthen our region's innovation capacity and deepen our workforce. By embedding technology transfer and commercialization into the very fabric of the institution, we can accelerate the movement of ideas from the lab to the marketplace, drive economic growth across the Heartland, and create new opportunities for entrepreneurs and industries of the future."
Individual members of the Walton family and the Walton Family Foundation have been major donors to a number of higher education institutions over the years, including the University of Arkansas, the University of Missouri, Arizona State University, and the University of the Ozarks.
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