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In what is sure to come as a relief to chief information officers across the country, a new study released this week reports that the number of students enrolled in computer science undergraduate programs has risen for the second year in a row.

In fact, the number of students majoring in computer science increased 8.5% in 2009, and the number of total majors (new and existing enrollments) increased 5.5%, netting a two year-gain of 14%, according to the annual Computing Research Association (CRA) Taulbee Survey.

“The upward surge proves that computer science is cool again,” proclaimed Dr. Eric Grimson, Chair of the CRA in releasing the survey. “The best and brightest students recognize that computer science is a field that offers tremendous intellectual excitement, great job prospects, and the ability to change the world.”

Grimson went on to say that students are once again seeing computer science as a profession where they can earn high salaries, advance quickly and explore exciting new developments.

“Computers, smartphones and online social networks are a daily part of young people’s lives. It should come as no surprise that today’s students want to learn more about computing,” Grimson added.

Now before software, hardware and computer services companies pop open the bottles of bubbly and start celebrating, a little perspective is needed here. The CRA survey is definitely good – and somewhat surprising news. Surprising in that a number of recent studies have indicated students were being turned off computer science and the recent recession and the toll it took on the technology industry certainly couldn’t have sent out many positive vibes.

It should also be noted that the last two years are in stark contrast to the multi-year declines computer science programs have seen in recent years. The CRA’s figures show that the number new enrollments in computer science majors at US schools has steadily dropped from a high of about 16,000 in 2000 (at the height of the dot com boom), to a low of around 8,000 in 2005. The last two years’ gains have helped boost the number of new enrollments back up to just under 10,000 – but that’s still a far cry from what is needed.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, computer science occupations are expected to grow by the largest percentage among the 10 major tracked occupational groups between now and 2018. Computer science jobs are expected to grow by 16.8% over that time period, compared to 10.1% across all occupations.

The bureau also expects computer science graduates to earn higher average salaries.

The bottom line is this latest survey is very good news for the industry, but clearly a lot more has to be done to educate students as to why they should get excited about working the industry again.
 

Comments (3)

	1. 03-26-2010 22:19
	I think when it comes down to it this is a problem that begins and end in the high schools. I don't think a typical high school student cares at all what the market is doing but can be massively affected by the way CS and other IT areas are taught at this level. I loved computers from a young age with my Dad teaching me program in grade school, but my high school computer programs sucked (now this is quite a few years ago). If these subjects were taught in a way that showed them to be as fun as they can be then more students would sign up. There are still many good technology schools out there and my hope is that we can fill them up and help them evolve along with the surge.    -sean Registered

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	2. 03-29-2010 08:38
	Some organizations, such as the Society for Information Management (SIM) and the National Center for Women & Technology (NCWIT) have launched programs aimed at generating student interest in computer science programs at the elementary and middle school level. Some practitioners believe that by the time students have reached high school it's too late to try to convince most kids about the merits of an IT career. Registered

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	3. 03-30-2010 13:44
	In order to be successful and enjoy the computer science field certain personality traits and attributes such as creativity and perseverance in problem solving are required.   Maybe by focusing the message to attract the students with the required personality traits would be more effective. Registered

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