Cognizant and CEO Brian Humphries today, July 12, joined with Code.org and more than 500 of the nation’s top business, industry and nonprofit executives to issue a letter calling on state governments and education leaders across the United States to: “update the K-12 curriculum in each state, for every student in every school to have the opportunity to learn computer science.”

This coalition unites the leaders and founders of large tech companies such as Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft, together with CEOs of cross-sector companies including American Express, AT&T, Delta Airlines, Nike, Starbucks, UPS and Walgreens—as well as national organizations and Cognizant Foundation grantees such as CodePath, Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA), NCWIT and Teach For America (TFA).

“Building a diverse and equitable tech workforce begins with investments in K-12 computer science,” said Brian Humphries, Cognizant CEO. “It's essential to ensure that our next generation has the tech skills necessary to participate fully in the future of work. In this age of the algorithm, most, if not all, jobs of the future will require digital literacy, computational thinking and a foundational understanding of computer science.”

According to the 2021 State of Computer Science Report from Code.org, CSTA and the ECEP Alliance, the number of schools offering K-12 computer science has increased over the past decade—and states have implemented policies that both allow computer science to count toward core graduation requirements and that fund professional learning to train more teachers and create clear certification pathways for computer science teachers. Still, only 5% of high school students study computer science annually, while 700,000 computing jobs are currently open in the U.S.

“Every industry is impacted by digital technology, yet not every student has the opportunity to learn how technology works,” said Hadi Partovi, CEO of Code.org. “Today, computer science should be a core subject, just like basic biology or algebra. The United States has seen tremendous momentum behind this idea, and today’s announcement makes it clear that the time for action is now.”

Our Impact in Action

As part of Cognizant’s broader global CSR commitment to engineer impact for good, the Cognizant Foundation’s support for organizations like TFA is expanding access to K-12 computer science in schools across the country—a partnership that is providing students from all backgrounds with inspiring and invigorating opportunities.

We are also proud to recognize outstanding computer science education leaders in partnership with TFA through the Cognizant Innovation in Computer Science Education Awards—read more about the inaugural cohort of winners, announced during Computer Science Education Week in 2021.