Because of the growing impact of software and its historically poor performance in meeting society’s needs, the practice of software engineering is in need of substantial changes. One challenge concerns preparing software professionals for their careers; the field must drastically change its approach to software engineering education if it hopes to consistently provide safe, secure, and reliable systems. This special issue sheds light on some of the issues both academic and industry-based educators must resolve to better address society's need for qualified and capable software professionals.