Data from CRA’s own Taulbee Survey of PhD-granting computer science and computer engineering departments in North America shows that the number of newly declared CS majors has increased for the first time since the height of the dot-com boom in Fall 2000. This might indicate that interest in CS has stabilized after a long period of decline post-2000, writes Jay Vegso in the CRA Bulletin.
While the number of enrollments in undergraduate CS departments continues down among the CS departments surveyed, the increase in newly declared CS majors suggests that these highly-cyclical enrollments may be poised to exit their current trough in the coming years. The Taulbee numbers also show that though enrollments are down from Fall 2000 peak, enrollments are still above the pre-boom 1995 numbers.
CRA will release the full results from the Taulbee Survey in May.
There’s good coverage of the release of the undergraduate info today in both Inside Higher Ed and Computerworld. Both are worth reading. And of course, Jay’s got the full detail at the CRA Bulletin.
Update: Also, E-week.