Daniel Prince
Report finds equal access by all racial and ethnic groups and no participation gaps by race or gender
The website code.org and its partners released the 2021 State of Computer Science Education report. The report shows that South Carolina has the highest rate of students enrolled in foundational computer science courses, at 21%. Also, 92% of the state’s high schools offer computer science coursework, tied with Arkansas for the highest percentage in the nation. By comparison, just three years ago, fewer than half the state’s high schools offered computer science courses.
Other takeaways from the report include equal access by students of all racial and ethnic groups to attend a school that offers computer science, with no participation disparities for students from underrepresented groups. Enrollment by gender is nearly equal, with 46% female students to 54% male students in the computer science classes.
South Carolina is one of three states with a full-year, one-credit graduation requirement in computer science. The state is also one of six to adopt computer science standards with the 2017 passage of the SC Computer Science and Digital Literacy Standards for grades K-8. In 2018, the state adopted high school computer science standards, as well.