State of AI and Computer Science Education in Oregon Moving into 2026

Peter Steinfeld, Executive Director, TechStart

Recently, Code.org released its report on the 2025 State of AI & Computer Science Education. This includes both a nationwide summary and a report specific to the state of computer science education in Oregon.  Both reports focus on high school education.  And, for the first time, the reports have data on education in artificial intelligence. Here are the highlights from Oregon's report.

Who's taking computer science

6.1% of Oregon's kids took a computer science course in high school.  According to a study at the University of Maryland, this means that these kids will earn an 8% income bonus on average, regardless of their eventual career path. 

This 6.1% number puts Oregon in 16th place from the top for all the states.  On the other hand, Oregon is in 17th place from the bottom in the number of high schools that offer any computer science courses.  These numbers reflect two realities.  

  • First, Oregon has a shortage of teachers who know how to teach computer science.  Our state has no budget for training teachers in computer science, and Oregon's university system that trains teachers has no special support for creating computer science teachers.

  • Second, Oregon has many small high schools that don't offer computer science courses.  Computer science is an elective, and there's no requirement for schools to offer it or for students to take it.  This means that students who live in rural areas don't have the opportunity to take computer science.

Of the students who do take a computer science course, only 21% of these students are young women.  Contrast this with South Carolina, the top state in this category, where 47% of the students taking a CS course are young women.  This implies that one way to increase our numbers is to simply encourage girls to take a computer science course. 

State policies

Code.org lists 10 policies that drive access and participation in computer science education.  Oregon ranks near the bottom of all 50 states in implementing these policies.  Oregon is hamstrung because we insist on local control of many of these policies.  For example, each school district specifies the graduation requirements for high schools in that district.

There's more bad news.  The Oregon Department of Education recently lost funding for the position of someone to lead computer science education in Oregon.  Also, in the latest legislative session, the Oregon Joint Ways and Means Committee declined to fund Senate Bill 541, which would have provided partial funding for Oregon's Plan for Computer Science Education.  Also, Oregon has no standards for computer science education, no funding, no teacher certification, no high school graduation requirement, no requirement for high schools to offer computer science courses, and no requirement for admission to state universities.


On the bright side, Oregon does have a plan for computer science education, and the Oregon Department of Education is actively working on creating optional standards for computer science education, and these standards include provisions for artificial intelligence.

Call to action

The best thing we can do is to create more computer science teachers and support the ones that we have.  To support computer science teachers, please donate to TechStart.  TechStart recognizes and rewards our best computer science teachers and students.  TechStart also provides funding for the Oregon Computer Science Teachers Association to conduct teacher training three times a year.

We can also support the programs that offer after school programs that excel in providing technical education.  Both my wife and I volunteer for the Oregon Game Project Challenge (OGPC) and the Oregon Robotics Tournament and Outreach Program (ORTOP).  Another great organization is Saturday Academy.

Please consider volunteering for or contributing to OGPC and ORTOP.  Both of these programs offer team and project-based opportunities for students to learn how to work in technology.  ORTOP's state tournament is coming up on Saturday, January 17th, 2026, and they'll need many volunteers.  OGPC's main event will be on May 9th, 2026, and they'll also need volunteers.