How to Reform and Expand Computer Science Education

Computer science skills are becoming indispensable for workers in today’s innovation economy. But the U.S. education system has not responded to this new reality by making requisite computer science instruction widely available to aspiring students, so companies and other organizations across the U.S. economy are facing significant shortages of workers with adequate skills. There are problems at every layer of the educational system: Too many high schools either do not teach computer science or relegate it to an elective option. Too many colleges and graduate schools—particularly state schools—face funding constraints that limit their capacity for enrollment in computer science. And further compounding the issue, as computer science salaries grow, many faculty are leaving academia for the private sector. Meanwhile, federal support for computer science research has been anemic. It is time for major change across the board.

Please join ITIF for a discussion of these issues with leading computer science education experts.

The event will be livestreamed here.

Additional speakers to be announced.

Follow @ITIFdc and join the discussion on Twitter with the hashtag #ITIFeducation.

For questions, please contact ITIF’s event coordinator, Rachel Trello, at [email protected].