Dive Brief:

• Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal is asking the State Board of Education to count computer programming classes as one of the four science courses students must take to graduate from high school. 
• Deal is also asking the University System of Georgia to have postsecondary institutions take the course into account when accepting applicants.  
• Currently, only AP Computer Science courses count toward the science graduation requirement, but only 18% of the state's high schools have the course option.  

Dive Insight:

Currently, programming courses are only viewed as electives and the AP course that does count for graduation credit is only taken by 1% of students. As more importance is placed on STEM classes and subjects, making sure students get the right credit for enrolling in these classes will increase in importance.