Undergrads flock to computer science programs

[OhioChick]

University of Maryland sees nearly a 50% jump in undergrad enrollments


Computerworld - For the second year in a row, computer science enrollments in the U.S. have increased, according to an annual study of enrollment trends, giving hope that the degree program is seeing a revival that's here to stay.

The decline in technology-related enrollments that began with the dot-com bust has been worrisome to business and government leaders. President Obama, in particular, has pushed for programs to train more secondary school teachers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. He has gone so far as to urge students to eschew finance degrees in favor of technology areas.

The total number of undergraduate majors in computer science increased 5.5% in 2008-2009, the second consecutive year that the number of computer science majors has increased, according to the annual Taulbee Survey by the Computing Research Association. Over a two-year period, the number of such students increased to 14%. The survey looks only at a subset of computer science enrollments -- those students attending Ph.D.-granting institutions -- but it's typically the first data to identify enrollment trends in advance of government data. The figures represent a total of 32,706 computer science majors enrolled at these institutions, the survey said.

More: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9174134/Undergrads_flock_to_computer_science_programs

[lapfog_1]

1. Why?

There won't be any jobs for them... unless they want to relocate.

[Vincardog]

2. Why? Because they heard that Bopal was a loverly place to live and work.

[LiberalEsto]

3. IT companies are hiring H1-B visa holders

There aren't going to be many jobs for these new computer science majors. I am worried about what they will do when they graduate up to their asses in student loans, with no decent job prospects.

My husband has worked in the IT field for more than 25 years, and he says just about everyplace these days is filled with foreign IT workers on H1-Bs. He hangs on to his job by working an insane number of unpaid hours, keeping up to date with Oracle and being damned good at what he does. But many of his friends in the industry are desperately searching for work. His younger brother, who lives in another state, was unemployed for more than 2 years.

Companies use all sorts of loopholes to keep from paying foreign IT workers on the same level as their American counterparts. And this has also driven down salaries in the computer field considerably.

Until IT people organize unions, and demand that Congress eliminate H1-B visas, they will continue to get screwed.

[lumberjack_jeff]

4. Every McDonalds needs someone who can operate those high tech registers. n/t

[jody]

5. Job prospects are poor but much better than other majors. n/t

[LibDemAlways]

6. For many of those grads their only hope of

securing decent employment is being willing to open up every facet of their personal lives to the government in order to obtain the security clearances necessary for defense work.

However, I know a guy who has every top level clearance, boatloads of experience, and still can't find a job. It's brutal out there.

[Recursion]

7. The joke is a CS degree doesn't remotely prepare you to work as a programmer or sysadmin

It's like getting a degree in mechanical engineering to become an auto mechanic.

[Tempest]

8. An estimated 71,000 high tech jobs will be created between now and 2012

And there are more than 600,000 high tech workers out of work.

Do the math.