Software engineering is coming to the sixth grade.

Operating on the theory that tech education can never start too young, Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday that 20 schools in the city have been selected for a new software-engineering pilot program that will start in September.

About 1,000 students in sixth and ninth grades will participate, expanding to 3,500 students by 2016.

Bloomberg said the digital age is bringing changes so rapidly that every student should be taking courses in math and science.

“The challenge for education is how to teach kids how to think, as opposed to just memorizing some stuff on how to do,” he said.

Mike Nolet, founder of AppNexus, who appeared at a press conference with the mayor at the HS of Telecommunication Arts and Technology in Brooklyn, said graduates of top college tech-engineering schools are being recruited at salaries of $100,000 and up.