Overview

The lack of calculus courses in U.S. high schools, particularly in lower-resourced regions, represents a significant educational disparity. According to the 2018 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education, nearly half of high schools in the U.S. don’t offer AP calculus. Calculus is a mandatory course for most university STEM programs across the US, including MIT, and its absence effectively blocks these students’ access to higher education and career opportunities in STEM fields.

MIT4America’s mission is to expand access to calculus education in lower-resourced high schools across the United States by empowering educators and high school learners with scalable, cost-effective support. This will be accomplished by leveraging a combination of the passion and expertise of MIT students and alumni as mentors, MIT’s ability and experience to scale educational innovation, and the future integration of CalcTutor, a 24/7 learning support tool.  Our program includes MIT-supported summer kickoff calculus intensives to get students and teachers ready for the year through MIT students on site, combined with academic year tutoring and mentoring from MIT students and alumni with integrated technology support.

Interested in joining our team?
Apply to be a calculus tutor (MIT students only)
Become an MIT Alumni volunteer with Calculus4America 

Future Vision

Our long term goal is to provide a year-round support system that transforms the teaching of calculus—making it more engaging, effective, and able to attract and retain a wide range of students. After a successful summer pilot in 2025, we will explain our summer offerings to include multiple sites. In partnership with our district and community based partners, we will create a 3-week summer program taught by a local teacher that will provide a headstart for students in the fall.

Pilot Fall Program

In order to reach this expansive goal, we have a plan to set up pilot programs across the country this fall. These programs will align trained MIT students and alumni with sites where they will support introductory high school calculus courses through tutoring and mentoring. MIT students and alumni will help high school learners in these classes succeed via remote tutoring and, in the future, AI tutors will be made available to assist with student learning. The goal is to support the expansion of high school calculus access across the United States, particularly in communities that have low calculus enrollment, completion, and passing of the AP exam. We will work with teachers in each school to make sure our support is connected with their curriculum and classroom and deeply connect the student tutors with the classroom community.

What to expect for school year tutoring program

We are always looking to support more schools! . MIT provides vetted, trained and background checked online MIT student and alumni mentors The mentors are prepared with example activities, ready to provide homework help, and are trained in college preparation mentoring to support students who wish to pursue a college education. MIT would also have an introduction for teachers to help them make the best use of the online MIT tutors, and provide regular opportunities to check in with teachers to make sure the tutors are helpful. This is provided to schools at no cost other than a commitment to working with the tutors. 


We invite schools to participate in this transformative program. Together, we can bridge the gap in advanced calculus education and empower students from under-resourced communities to achieve their academic and career goals in STEM fields. In order to participate, schools must have students taking calculus, and be able to provide them with a device with internet access. Again, there is no cost to schools other than working with the program.  
 

Join Us

We invite schools to participate in this transformative pilot program. Together, we can bridge the gap in advanced calculus education and empower students from under-resourced communities to achieve their academic and career goals in STEM fields. During summer 2025 we’re looking for schools to commit to the academic year 2025-26 program. Again, there is no cost to schools other than working with the program.  

For more information or to express interest in participating, please contact: mitforamerica@mit.edu.