Every student deserves chemistry.
Chemdu connects high schools without chemistry programs to volunteer chemistry professors, teaching assistants, and graduate students. Free. Remote. Effective.
A volunteer-run nonprofit. No fees. No grades. Just chemistry — for the students most likely to be left without it.
The chemistry gap is real — and it's measurable.
Chemistry and physics access in U.S. high schools varies dramatically with student demographics. Students at high-minority schools are roughly half as likely to have these courses available.
Sources: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine — Monitoring Educational Equity (2019); U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, Civil Rights Data Collection. "High-minority" schools are those with ≥75% non-white enrollment per OCR definition.
Why chemistry, specifically?
Because the chemistry gap is wider than any other science gap — and because chemistry is the science that keeps you alive.
It's life-saving knowledge
Bleach + ammonia makes deadly gas. Pressure cookers explode if mishandled. Radon causes lung cancer. The chemistry your students need most is the chemistry that protects them.
It's a college gateway
Pre-med, nursing, engineering, environmental science, pharmacy — all require chemistry. Students without high school chemistry start college a full year behind their peers.
It's an equity issue
A student's access to chemistry shouldn't depend on their zip code. The students least likely to have a chemistry teacher are the ones who would benefit most from one.
How it works
Three steps from need to first class. No paperwork mountain, no waiting list.
School signs up
An administrator, teacher, parent, or even a student fills out our short request form. Tell us your state, school, and what you need.
We match a volunteer
A Chemdu coordinator pairs the school with a vetted, background-checked volunteer chemistry educator based on time zone, availability, and curriculum preference.
Classes begin
Students attend live lectures over Zoom or Google Meet, using our complete Level 1 and Level 2 lecture materials — scripts, slides, demos, all included.
What students learn
Two complete levels of chemistry, designed by educators around real-world examples and life-saving knowledge.
Level 1 — Life Safety Chemistry
11 lectures · ~8.5 hours · math-light · no grades
Atomic structure, periodic table, bonding, reactions, stoichiometry, solutions, acids & bases, thermodynamics, kinetics, gas laws, nuclear chemistry — all anchored to household examples.
See the lectures →Level 2 — Advanced Chemistry
13 lectures · ~17 hours · with basic calculations
Goes deeper with isotopes, Lewis structures, balancing, mole calculations, molarity, pH math, thermodynamics, equilibrium, gas laws, half-life, spectroscopy, and organic chemistry.
See the lectures →Our impact
A growing community of educators reaching students who would otherwise have no chemistry class at all.
We're just getting started. Be one of our first.
In the words of educators
This school had no chemistry teacher for three years. Chemdu changed that. — Principal, Mississippi (placeholder)
Teaching these students reminded me why I fell in love with chemistry. — Volunteer TA, MIT (placeholder)
Ready to close the chemistry gap?
Whether you need chemistry for your school or want to teach, you can start today.