  Driven in large part by the National Quantum Initiative Act of 2018, quantum
information science (QIS) coursework and degree programs are rapidly spreading
across US institutions. Yet prior work suggests that access to quantum
workforce education is unequally distributed, disproportionately benefiting
students at private research-focused institutions whose student bodies are
unrepresentative of US higher education as a whole. We use regression analysis
to analyze the distribution of QIS coursework across 456 institutions of higher
learning as of fall 2022, identifying statistically significant disparities
across institutions in particular along the axes of institution classification,
funding, and geographic distribution suggesting today's QIS education programs
are largely failing to reach low-income and rural students. We also conduct a
brief analysis of the distribution of emerging dedicated QIS degree programs,
discovering much the same trends. We conclude with a discussion of implications
for educators, policymakers, and education researchers including specific
policy recommendations to direct investments in QIS education to schools
serving low-income and rural students, leverage existing grassroots diversity
and inclusion initiatives that have arisen within the quantum community, and
update and modernize procedures for collecting QIS educational data to better
track these trends.
