MICROSOFT ANNOUNCES $10 MILLION SOFTWARE, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANT FOR
WASHINGTON STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGES

President Clinton, Microsoft's Bill Gates Address Students on Importance of
Preparing for Information Economy

SEATTLE, WASH, FEB. 24, 1996 - Addressing students and faculty at Seattle's
Shoreline Community College, Microsoft Chairman and CEO Bill Gates today
joined President Bill Clinton in announcing a more than $10 million
corporate donation to the Washington state community and technical
colleges. President Clinton made a stop in Seattle to discuss the
importance that public-private partnerships can play in training and
re-training Americans for jobs in a changing workplace.

Microsoft's gift includes software and technical assistance for students,
teachers and administrators statewide. The donation will benefit all 32 of
the community and technical colleges across Washington State.

"In the State of the Union, I challenged businesses to work with government
and communities to help all of our students become technologically
literate so that they can make the most of their lives. I have challenged
all Americans to join me in a national mission to achieve this goal," said
President Clinton.

"I commend the actions Bill Gates and Microsoft are taking today to provide
substantial technological assistance to the Washington state community and
technical colleges. This is a shining example of how the private sector
can help us meet this challenge. The work of Microsoft and other industry
leaders across the country will help us truly put the future at the
fingertips of all our students. We can do this--communities, the private
sector and government--but only if we can do it together."

"The PC revolution, coupled with the phenomenal growth of the Internet,
have created great opportunities for students and for those already in the
workplace," said Gates. "Our shared challenge in business and in
government is to ensure that access to these technologies is available to
everyone. Community and technical colleges will play an important role in
training and re-training workers for the Information Age. Our vision must
be for a connected, lifelong learning community."

"It's difficult to overstate the importance of this contribution to our
colleges," said Earl Hale, Director of the State Board for Community and
Technical Colleges. "All of our customers - from students to the
businesses that hire them - expect us to have the latest equipment and
software. Microsoft's effort represents a tremendous boost for us."

Hale said the timing of Microsoft's donation could not have been better
because the colleges spent much of last year upgrading their campus
educational technology systems with state funds. "It's been clear for
several years that state resources alone won't allow us to meet all of our
costs so this contribution is especially timely," he said.

In a speech late last year at Georgetown University, Gates outlined
Microsoft's vision of a "connected learning community," one in which
teachers, students, parents and community institutions collaborate to
improve educational experiences at every age and promote lifelong
learning. In addition to today's initiative with the Washington State
Community Colleges, Gates described a variety of educational initiatives
Microsoft has undertaken to help bring about the vision of a connected
learning community:

 Libraries Online! is a $3 million, one-year partnership with the
 American Library Association and local public libraries across
 the country to provide access to PCs and the Internet in economically
 disadvantaged communities.

 The Road Ahead Program is a $3 million partnership with the National
 Foundation for the Improvement of Education (NFIE) to fund efforts
 by schools across the country to foster innovative uses of technology
 in education.

 Microsoft this year donated $10 million in software, plus technical
 support, faculty training and internship opportunities for students
 at the 41 colleges that constitute the United Negro College Fund.

 Microsoft recently announced it would take the lead to help ensure
 that college students, working professionals and high school students
 have access to top-quality training needed to meet growing demand
 for trained experts to design, implement and support cutting-edge
 information systems through the Microsoft Authorized Academic
 Training Program.

 Microsoft and MCI announced recently a program at the Florida Educational
 Technology Conference to enable every K-12 school to establish
 apresence on the World Wide Web. In addition, Microsoft launched
 apowerful set of products and tools, available at no charge,
 to help K-12 schools explore and publish on the Internet.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in
software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of
products and services for business and personal use, each designed with
the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take
advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
 
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