Stanford courses for under-resourced high schools

Since September 2021, Stanford Digital Education has pioneered a dual-credit course program in which students from high schools in low-income communities can earn Stanford credits, as well as credits from their high schools. The courses give students unique learning opportunities to master Stanford’s college-level material that was previously unavailable in high schools. The experience not only provides students with new subject matter but also boosts their confidence that they could thrive at Stanford and other selective colleges and universities. Many of the courses are  offered in collaboration with the nonprofit National Education Equity Lab

Our dual-credit model is based in the high school classroom with a teacher, who leads the course in tandem with at least one Stanford teaching fellow. Students watch lectures from a Stanford faculty member asynchronously and engage in the same assignments as students in schools nationwide. They can also attend weekly office hours with teaching fellows via Zoom. The courses offer college-level rigor — covering the same material being taken by Stanford undergraduates — with the extra scaffolding needed by high school students.

View current (fall 2025), future, and past course offerings.

From our launch in fall 2021 through winter/spring 2025:

Fall 2025 courses

Black Life, Culture, and the Emergence of the Field from Emancipation to the Present

Instructor: Kimberly Thomas McNair, lecturer in African and African American Studies. This course introduces students to the intellectual history of African American Studies as a field of study — its genealogy, development, major debates, and global context. Texts include the writings of W.E.B. Du Bois, Zora Neale Hurston, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and James Baldwin, and others, as well as film, music, and new media. The course is offered in collaboration with the National Education Equity Lab.

Creative Hustle (pilot)

Instructors: sam seidel, director of K12 strategy and research at the Stanford d.school, and Olatunde Sobomehin, founder and CEO of StreetCode Academy. Based in part on a book co-authored by the two instructors, this course is designed to empower high school students to chart their own creative paths, with a special focus on envisioning what they would like to do after graduating. Through hands-on exercises, spirited discussion, real-world case studies, and a dynamic online format, students identify their unique gifts, set meaningful goals, and take actionable steps toward a fulfilling career.

CS105: Introduction to Computers (limited run)

Instructor: Patrick Young, lecturer in computer science. Students gain an in-depth understanding of how the internet and computers work. They receive an introduction to CSS and HTML, gain practical skills in website design, and explore computer security, privacy, and the Internet of Things. The course is offered in collaboration with the National Education Equity Lab.

Winter/spring 2026 courses

Between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.: Race, Religion, and the Politics of Freedom

Instructor: Lerone A. Martin, professor of religious studies and director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. Students learn about the political and spiritual lives of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X, to explore how they serve as important religious, political, and intellectual models for imagining the past and the present. The course is offered in collaboration with the National Education Equity Lab.

CS 106EA: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence

Instructor: Patrick Young, lecturer in computer science. This course will provide a broad overview of artificial intelligence, with an emphasis on systems based on neural networks. We’ll be focusing on how AI works at a conceptual level while also providing a good amount of hands-on practice with AI systems using Google Colab, a platform widely used by AI researchers and data scientists. The course is offered in collaboration with the National Education Equity Lab.

Introduction to Bioengineering

Instructors: Drew Endy, associate professor of bioengineering, and Jenn Brophy, assistant professor of bioengineering. This course aims to give students a working understanding of how to approach the engineering of living systems to benefit all people and the planet. Find a sample syllabus and course materials on the Introduction to Bioengineering course website. The course is offered in collaboration with the National Education Equity Lab.

Reporting, Writing, and Understanding the News (pilot)

Instructor: Janine Zacharia, lecturer in communications. This course serves as a gateway to journalism, providing lessons in journalism practice along with study of the value and role of news in democratic societies. Students learn beat reporting and writing skills, including source development, interviewing, story structure for news and feature articles, and the ability to deliver stories on deadline. Throughout the course, students consider how “news” is defined and to think critically about the way stories are covered. The course is offered in collaboration with the National Education Equity Lab.

Searching Together for the Common Good

Instructor: Greg Watkins, lecturer and resident fellow. Through texts ranging from the writings of Confucius and Sophocles to Spike Lee’s film Do the Right Thing, this ethics course brings students into conversation with moral philosophers seeking to describe the common good. For more details, see the Searching Together for the Common Good course page. The course is offered in collaboration with the National Education Equity Lab.

Courses taught in previous years

All courses were offered in collaboration with the National Education Equity Lab.

Between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.: Race, Religion, and the Politics of Freedom 

(Winter/spring 2023, 1 school; winter/spring 2024, 7 schools; winter/spring 2025, 9 schools)

CS 105: Introduction to Computers

(Fall 2021, 16 schools; fall 2022, 15 schools; fall 2023, 12 schools; fall 2024, 18 schools)

Introduction to Bioengineering 

(Winter/spring 2023, 9 schools; winter/spring 2024, 3 schools; winter/spring 2025, 10 schools)

Raise Your Voice: Learn to Write Successfully for College and Beyond

(Spring 2022, 8 schools; winter/spring 2023, 5 schools)

Searching Together for the Common Good

(Spring 2022, 1 school; winter/spring 2023, 5 schools; winter/spring 2024, 6 schools; winter/spring 2025, 10 schools)

How Stanford teaching fellows contribute

Teaching fellows, also known as section leaders, play a critical role in Stanford’s National Education Equity Lab courses. Watch the videos below to learn how Marina Limon (section leader coordinator for Between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.: Race, Religion, and the Politics of Freedom) and Star Doby, Terrell Ibanez, and Julia Wang (teaching fellows/section leaders for Introduction to Computers) approach their work. 

You can also read teaching fellow Dasia Moore's reflections on teaching a section of the writing course Raise Your Voice, section leader Brian Sha in the Stanford Daily on challenges faced by students in his Introduction to Computers class, and an article about alumni supporting students in the same course.

Learn more about the teaching fellow role

See current job openings for section leaders

Contact us

Are you interested in collaborating with us, designing a course, serving as a teaching fellow, or bringing a Stanford course to your Title I (or Title I eligible) high school? Please reach out.

Priscilla Fiden, Associate Vice Provost and Chief of Staff
Stanford Digital Education
pfiden@stanford.edu

We are pleased to be working with the National Education Equity Lab