The 2012 launch of LehighSiliconValley established Lehigh University’s West Coast presence. The flagship week-long program, hosted by Lehigh’s Baker Institute, that immerses students in the San Francisco Bay Area entrepreneurial ecosystem brought to the West Coast Lehigh’s long tradition of providing students with experiential learning. Four years later, Lehigh opened its Western Regional Office, engaging directly with prospective students from the West Coast, fostering new industry partnerships and connecting with local alumni.
Since the opening of the Western Regional Office in 2016, the number of students enrolled at Lehigh from Western states has increased by more than 50%, and more than 200 industry partners have engaged in educational programs. More than 1,600 students and aspiring entrepreneurs across 78 disciplines have participated in entrepreneurial programs, courses and workshops. Through its programs, students have been placed in internships with more than 150 startups in the Bay Area and around the globe. These programs have led to more than 1,300 students earning internships and full-time careers in the U.S. and internationally, including at startups and major tech and consulting firms in the Bay Area such as Netflix, Salesforce, Accenture, Google, and Meta.
In 2017, a year after establishing the Western Regional Office, Lehigh entered into an exclusive education industry partnership with San Francisco’s Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center to create Lehigh@NasdaqCenter. Ignited by the partnership of Lehigh@NasdaqCenter, new programs like StartUp Academy and the Silicon Valley Innovation Internship grew rapidly because of increasing interest from Lehigh students. Now, the university is harnessing that momentum to chart new paths for independent impact as the 8-year partnership between Lehigh and the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center comes to a close at the end of this academic year on May 12, 2025.
Lehigh’s commitment to facilitating student engagement in the Bay Area remains strong through dynamic interdisciplinary Bay Area-based programming. LehighSiliconValley, Startup Academy, the Innovation Internship and the Silicon Valley Social Impact Fellowship programs will continue to operate in the region, providing students unique access to Bay Area startups, tech hubs and entrepreneurial opportunities.
“We are committed to a Lehigh presence in the Bay Area and, more broadly, in California and on the West Coast,” said Lehigh University Provost Nathan Urban. “Lehigh students will continue to have opportunities to immerse themselves in the Bay Area’s unique entrepreneurial ecosystem through many distinctive programs supported by Lehigh’s Western Regional Office.”
Startup Academy is a cutting-edge academic program, in partnership with Lehigh’s College of Business, that connects students to internships with pioneering startups. Students spend the summer living and working together in the Bay Area, collaborating on projects with real-world impact, while accelerating their entrepreneurial careers among industry leaders and a thriving entrepreneurial community.
The Innovation Internship is a high-impact, experiential learning opportunity for Lehigh students seeking an integrated internship experience in entrepreneurship, innovation or social impact. Students participate in a remote internship with a startup or innovation-focused organization from Silicon Valley or across the US.
The Silicon Valley Social Impact Fellowship program, developed by Lehigh’s Office of Creative Inquiry, is a cohort of undergraduate and graduate students who address Bay Area social and economic challenges. The program’s courses, workshops, retreats and immersive experiences integrate experiential learning, research and entrepreneurial engagement as students work with regional partners.
To learn more about Lehigh’s programming in the Western region, visit https://westcoast.lehigh.edu/.
