Lafayette, Colorado – November 04, 2026 -- Intel Corporation has joined the Semiconductor Pathways Fund, a six-member industry coalition targeting $20 million to keep 6,700 students on track to graduate by 2028, Last Mile Education Fund announced.
Intel becomes sixth corporate backer of the workforce fund
The fund launched in November 2025 with Applied Materials as founding partner. Lam Research, KLA Foundation and Cadence Design Systems made inaugural investments, and the AMD Foundation has since joined. Intel is the latest addition.
Awards averaging under $3,000 target last-mile financial gaps
The fund issues rapid, flexible awards averaging less than $3,000. They cover obstacles such as an unpaid tuition balance, a car repair or a housing emergency that can stop a near-graduate from finishing.
Students within four semesters of graduation may be eligible. Eligible fields include electrical, mechanical and chemical engineering, robotics, materials science and semiconductor manufacturing. The fund also supports technician pathways.
Industry study projects 67,000 of 115,000 new jobs at risk of going unfilled
A Semiconductor Industry Association and Oxford Economics study projects the U.S. semiconductor industry will add nearly 115,000 jobs by 2030. At current rates, 67,000 of those jobs risk going unfilled.
Last Mile Education Fund positions the program as addressing one part of that gap: retaining students who have already invested years in technical preparation. Founder and CEO Ruthe Farmer said the goal is to ensure "solvable financial setbacks" do not cost a student their degree or the industry a future engineer or technician.
Madison West, Senior Director of Corporate Responsibility, Head of Sustainability and President of the Intel Foundation, described Intel's role as contributing to a collective effort to build the workforce the industry needs.