“BOSSY” STUDENT STARTUPS: House representatives today announced a bill, called the “Building Opportunity for Student Startups” or “BOSS Act,” to study the popularity and value of startup accelerator programs in higher ed. Rep. Scott Peters (D.-Calif.), Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), who is chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, proposed the bill, which calls on the Commerce Department and National Academy of Sciences to research and report on “the role of incubators and accelerators, including university-based incubators and accelerators, in the commercialization for federally funded research and regional economic development.”
According to a press announcement, the legislation was made to support the growth of student incubators and entrepreneurship. “Because of rising student loans, entrepreneurship among young Americans is at 24-year-low. We shouldn’t let student loan debt hold millennials back from pursuing their entrepreneurial dreams,” Rep. Swalwell, who represents California’s East Bay, said in a prepared statement.