This is a guest post by Thomas P. Foley, a former college president and the current president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania.
“Defense tech” is a hot topic in the VC world today, and if you take a short walk through Pittsburgh’s Robotics Row or AI Avenue, you’ll notice many projects are already focused on the future of defense.
When we think of national security, most people probably picture the Pentagon before Pennsylvania. But PA plays a pivotal role in supporting American defense.
Recent stories in Technical.ly highlight the many defense tech startups and contractors throughout Pennsylvania and DC. But often, local college campuses are the first to foster defense innovations and to support military veterans launching a civilian career.
And recent news about a proposed defense summit in Pennsylvania and cuts to college-military fellowships combine to highlight the contributions of colleges to our nation’s defense.
Few people imagine that their independent college campus just down the road has anything to do with national defense. However, recent data from the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania (AICUP) suggests that these 80+ schools are, quite literally, a “secret weapon” of American defense (just in the Pittsburgh region alone, there are 13 of these AICUP member schools).
Statewide, these campuses are doing more than awarding degrees: They are helping supply technical talent, applied research capacity and veteran support to a defense economy that increasingly depends on software, cybersecurity and advanced manufacturing.
The talent pipeline is already on campus
The connection between higher education and defense is not new, but its depth is surprising.
Each year, Pennsylvania’s independent nonprofit colleges educate nearly 6,000 GI Bill students, according to AICUP — a 7% increase from the previous year. About 7 in 10 AICUP member institutions also support ROTC programs.
Together, those pathways make campuses an important part of how military-affiliated students and future officers move into technical and professional roles.
Modern defense requires more than just “boots on the ground.” It requires “brains on the keyboard.” AICUP member colleges offer 34 different cybersecurity and other specialized programs in AI, robotics, aerospace engineering, military science and even naval architecture. Some also host incubators, accelerators or veteran-focused entrepreneurship supports.
The overlap between higher education and defense is especially visible in applied research and workforce development. In Pittsburgh, the Army’s university-partnered Artificial Intelligence Integration Center reflects the region’s strengths in machine learning and human-AI interaction. Elsewhere in the state, colleges are helping students build advanced manufacturing skills and connect with naval and industrial suppliers.
One AICUP member university in Central PA collaborates with the military to teach students to use 3D printers to manufacture Army parts. A Philly-based university’s partnership with the Navy’s Talent Pipeline Initiative has already placed over 1,200 skilled workers with Pennsylvania defense suppliers.
Veterans are part of the workforce story
Perhaps the most significant value of these institutions lies in their role as a bridge for veterans. Transitioning from the military to civilian life is a daunting maneuver. Local, independent colleges provide the intimacy and support necessary for this “boots to books” journey.
Nine in 10 of AICUP member colleges offer the Yellow Ribbon program, which means that by providing their own private funds to cover tuition gaps beyond the GI Bill, these colleges are putting their own skin in the game.
They aren’t only accepting veterans, they are also investing in them. Their dedicated “veterans’ lounges” on campus and “Military Friendly” designations serve as social anchors that help a former sergeant feel like a student.
Pennsylvania already has the employer base
When we think of national security, most people probably picture the Pentagon before Pennsylvania. But PA plays a pivotal role in supporting American defense.
Pennsylvania’s defense footprint helps explain why this matters. More than 115,000 Pennsylvanians work in defense-related jobs, and the state is home to nearly 600 industrial suppliers tied to submarine production and other national-security work.
Major contractors also have offices here. In other words, colleges are not preparing students for a hypothetical future sector. They are educating people for an employer base that already exists.
PA’s independent nonprofit colleges are an investment in national defense and resilience, in addition to being national leaders in STEM and AI research, social mobility rankings, community investment, family-sustaining jobs, and good citizenship.
If Pennsylvania wants to grow its defense tech economy, it should treat colleges as part of the strategy, not adjacent to it. That means strengthening campus-industry partnerships, supporting veteran pathways and recognizing that a meaningful share of the state’s future defense workforce is already being trained in its classrooms and labs.