Google Pledges $20M to Computer Science Education for 11M Students
The tech giant is working to provide skills for students and adults to enable them to find better jobs.
- I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
Google says it will spend $20 million on bringing computer science education to 11 million more students through local and national organizations. It's an attempt to plug the "deep opportunity gaps" that prevent equal access to such education, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in a blog post Thursday.
"At Google, we believe educational opportunities should be available regardless of socioeconomic status, background, race or geography," Pichai wrote.
The $20 million pledge brings Google's total to $240 million in funding for computer science education since 2004, according to the blog post.
The focus for this round of funding will be on "underserved students in major urban centers and rural communities" across New York, Chicago, Washington DC, Atlanta and Los Angeles.
Google is also pushing for adults to upskill themselves with new training in marginalized communities. The tech giant said it's "building new financing models" for the Google Career Certificates program to help people "drive wage gains."