Amazon Expands High School Computer Science Program To All 50 States

In January, Amazon announced a new initiative that would provide high schools in New York with computer science classes, helping them prepare the next generation for future coding careers. In an announcement this week, Amazon revealed that it will expand its Amazon Future Engineer program to cover more than 1,000 high schools throughout all 50 United States and the District of Columbia.READ: Amazon is bringing computer science classes to 130 high schools

There are expected to be more than a million computer science jobs by 2020 and too few qualified graduates to fill them. We've seen tech companies fund various initiatives over the years to help support educational efforts in STEM fields, and Amazon is counted among them.

The company is funding computer science classes under its Future Engineer Program, bringing the courses to more than 1,000 high schools in underserved, underprivileged, and underrepresented communities. The curriculum is designed to help prepare high schools students for higher education — and eventual careers — in computer science.

The program is funding AP Computer Science and Intro to Computer Science courses from curriculum provider Edhesive — it includes tutorials, lessons, a digital curriculum for students, and more. The program also covers live online support for both students and teachers, as well as a free AWS Educate membership for the students.

Starting this fall, Amazon will re-open to submissions from students hoping to get a $10,000 scholarship to help them fund an undergraduate computer science degree. Amazon also accepts applications from freshman and sophomore students seeking software engineering internships.