Posted 5/5/2025
I am Professor Raj Rao in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Michigan.
I’m writing to tell you about an online Intro to Coding summer course we created for high school students to learn coding and to ask for your help in publicizing it to students in your school and community who might benefit from it.
In the past 4 years, we’ve had over 4500 students from 50 states and 25 countries take the course!
The course builds on principles of logic to show students how coding powers apps they use daily, such as Instagram filters and AI chatbots.
These days, almost all STEM fields, not just Computer Science, use coding as a means to instruct the computer to "do more" cool stuff e.g., designing vaccines, programming robots and driverless cars, inventing apps to detect and diagnose diseases in humans, animals and plants and so on.
Thus, we are looking for math and science-loving students who perhaps don't realize that coding is for everyone and not just for Computer Scientists. The students we are looking for:
+ enjoy the logic in math
+ love solving problems creatively and,
+ are willing to reach out for help to our team of coaches when stuck - everyone gets stuck somewhere when learning something new!
We’ve included a link to a flier with pertinent details about the course if you would like to print and/or share it as well.
We are able to offer need-based financial aid to help students pursue the program. Details are in our application.
For further questions, please email joyofcoding@umich.edu.
PS This is our fifth year offering this course. Here’s an article about the course and its prior successes.
Some details about the course:
The Joy of Coding online course has been specially created by the University of Michigan Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering for anyone who wants to experience first-hand the power and thrill of coding computers to do amazing things.
Course Dates: June 18 - July 30, 2025
Course Format: completely online, no scheduled lectures
Course Cost: $149 + tax, need-based financial aid available
Prerequisites:
+ students must be 13 years or older
+ No prior coding experience is required!
+ Have taken high school algebra
+ Have a desire to learn
+ Are able to commit 4 - 6 hours a week and chip away at the material daily
Students will:
+ Have weekly asynchronous coding lectures/assignments using an interactive textbook + Learn to code at their own pace with support from Michigan ECE faculty and students
+ Have our commitment to help you get unstuck when learning to code - everyone gets stuck somewhere, at some point!
+ Receive a certificate of accomplishment to bolster their college applications
For priority consideration, please submit an application by May 31 on our website.
I'm reaching out to share an opportunity for any high school students who may be interested in exploring Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in greater depth this summer. I am teaching a course through Syracuse University Pre-College program. If you have any interested student, feel free to forward this course to them for more exposure in AI/ML domain.