Surge in new philanthropic commitments for the education sector

Despite a rough start for the business world this year, the education industry has seen a surprising surge in philanthropic commitments, including: JPMorgan Chase's $75m to career technical education to tackle the "youth unemployment crisis"; Netflix founder, Reed Hastings' $100m fund for education and the Walton Family Foundation's new plan to spend $1bn over five years to improve K-12 schools. 

JPMorgan Chase will provide $75 million for the creation of a career and technical education program to address youth unemployment.

JPMorgan will partner with the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium to create the New Skills for Youth initiative, according to a Tuesday news release.

Companies are struggling to fill middle-skill positions in the areas of computer technology, nursing, advanced manufacturing and other fields that require technical education and training, according to JPMorgan. At the same time, few young people are receiving education in these fields.

JPMorgan and the two nonprofit groups will create a competition for grants to states that are looking to improve career education. This fall, 10 states will be awarded $1.5 million to $2 million each, to be disbursed over three years.

The bank will also make investments in city and school programs that focus on career education for low-income youth.

"It is a crisis that only 60 percent of students in high-poverty urban school districts graduate from high school and that more than five million young people are out of work and school," JPMorgan Chairman and Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said in the release.

