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I M A G E B Y A L I C I A K U B I S T A / A N D R I J B O R Y S A S S O C I A T E S

scientists invented MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) to provide CS education to as broad an audience as possible. The first MOOCs were invented by CS faculty at Stanford to offer CS courses online. The first start-ups offering MOOCs—Coursera and Udacity—were led by Stanford CS faculty.

The authors of this column are both
Interest in learning computer sci-
ence extends into primary and sec-
ondary schools as well. Several coun-
tries have national efforts to provide
CS education to every student in every
school. Among the 50 U.S. states, 36
have statewide policies promoting CS
education. We are struggling to deal
with all this interest, but it is a good
problem to have. We have something
that everyone wants. The problem is
who is getting it.

Undergraduate education is still
mostly the domain of the rich. Low-
and middle-income families are much
less likely to get access to higher edu-
cation than the rich, as reported by
the Equality of Opportunity project at
Stanford.b Most high schools in the
a https://bit.ly/2sDPJ1t
b https://bit.ly/19bjppE
U.S. are not offering computer science,
and wealth is a significant predictor of
whether a school offers CS. 3

One obvious solution is educational technology. We could offer online CS courses, at all levels from primary and secondary school, through undergraduate and graduation education, and beyond to life-long learning. Computer

Education
Providing Equitable
Access to
Computing Education
Seeking the best measures to reach
advantaged and less-advantaged students equally.

DOI: 10.1145/3232039