I agree that languages close to hardware are the wrong starting point to introduce a newbie to programming. And I see a change happening already—e.g. Stanford changing the introductory programming course to JavaScript in 2017: https://stanforddaily.com/2017/02/28/cs-department-updates-i.... I suspect that other top schools will follow suite whenever someone has the will and courage to design a new course in a higher level language. It’s a lot of work and the incentives for university professors aren’t aligned with making such a big investment into something that isn’t glamorous. In other words, don’t hold your breath.