Citing a need to close wage and skill gaps and keep America competitive with other countries, the letter's content was partially inspired by a 2024 study by University of Maryland researchers who found exposure to computer science in high school can boost a person's early career earnings by 8 percent. Yet a 2024 survey from Code.org showed less than 7 percent of U.S. secondary students were enrolled in such classes that year.
The letter and its push to make computer science and AI courses required in K-12 schools is part of an advocacy campaign called Unlock8, in reference to the expected 8 percent wage hike such requirements would unlock for U.S. workers.
Organized by education nonprofits Code.org and CSforALL, the letter was published as a full-page advertisement in The New York Times on Sunday and posted online the next day. CEOs who signed the letter come from companies ranging from Microsoft and American Airlines to Blue Origin and the nonprofit College Board.
The hope is that seeing so many different CEOs push for mandatory computer science and AI education will lead more states to adopt these requirements, according to Code.org President Cameron Wilson. He said only 12 states require students to take a computer science course in order to graduate from high school.
This is the third time in 12 years that Code.org has published a letter signed by major CEOs promoting computer science education. Wilson said the first letter, published during the Obama administration, was a push for funding for computer science classes in K-12 schools.
The second letter, published in 2022, urged state and district leaders to make computer science classes a priority for U.S. schools. Wilson said this week's letter and its call for course requirements is driven by the widespread rise of AI — and its impact on computer science.
Wilson said AI and computer science are now inseparable and mutually dependent, in that learning about AI and how to innovate with it requires computer science knowledge, while at the same time AI is changing how people code and other foundational aspects of computer science itself.
“It’s a crucial moment in time, and we wanted the CEOs to sort of capture that and say we’re at a point now, in society and workforce, where computer science and AI is not something that is just an elective — it should be required for all students,” Wilson said. “So not only do we have this evidence that learning computer science leads to profound wage gains, we just know that this is where every student is going to need to be agile with AI and to build with AI in the future.”
