CRA Bulletin

Survey results from HERI at UCLA have shown a steep drop since 2000 in interest in computer science as a major among incoming Freshmen.

An obvious question is whether the HERI survey results predict degree production trends. There are many reasons why this might be more difficult than it sounds: methodological differences between surveys, many students do not finish degrees in four years, etc. Nevertheless, if you take the share of students that said that they probably would major in computer science and compare it to computer science’s share of bachelor’s degrees granted four years later, they are similar.

Because there are so many variables involved, the results shown in the graph should not be taken too far. However, it does indicate that the HERI survey accurately predicts trends in computer science degree production. The good news is that computer science departments tend to grant a higher share of bachelor’s degrees than the HERI study ‘predicts.’

CRA’s Taulbee Survey, which focuses on the doctoral-granting departments and is more current than NSF data, shows that the fall in degree production suggested by the HERI survey is occurring: between 2004 and 2006, the number of bachelor’s degrees granted dropped 28%.

A graph showing NSF data for bachelor’s degrees granted in the computer sciences is at http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/bs.html

CRA’s Taulbee Survey: http://www.cra.org/statistics/

HERI/UCLA’s “CIRP Freshman Survey” is an annual survey of the characteristics of students attending colleges and universities as first-time, full-time freshmen: www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/freshman.html.

NB: See also this bulletin item.

Interest in computer science (CS) and computer engineering (CE) as majors among incoming freshmen at all undergraduate institutions remained low in 2006, according to survey results from the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles (HERI/UCLA).

After peaking in 1999 and 2000, interest in CS as a major fell 70 percent between 2000 and 2005. In the fall of 2006, 1.1 percent of incoming freshmen indicated CS as their probable major, the same as in 2005. [Please note that this is a measure of intended majors, not of actual enrollments.]

Results from this year’s Taulbee Survey of PhD-granting CS departments will show a second year of double-digit declines in the number undergraduate students enrolled in CS and in bachelor’s degrees granted in 2005/2006. (These numbers will be released March 1).

Interest in CE has been tracked only since 2002, and has fallen every year since then. In the Fall of 2006, 1 percent of incoming freshmen indicated CE as their probable major.

The HERI/UCLA CIRP Freshmen Survey is at http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/freshman.html

NB: See also this bulletin item.

Interest in computer science (CS) or computer engineering (CE) as a major among incoming freshmen at all undergraduate institutions fell between 2004 and 2005, according to survey results from the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles (HERI/UCLA).

After peaking in 1999 and 2000, interest in CS as a major has fallen in each of the past five years. All in all, interest has dropped 70 percent over this period. In the Fall of 2005, 1.1 percent of incoming freshmen indicated CS as their probable major, down slightly from 1.4 percent in 2004. The last time that interest in CS dropped this rapidly, during the early 1980s, CS degree production dropped by a third in five years. Although production might not fall as much again, results from this year’s Taulbee Survey of PhD-granting CS departments will show a double-digit drop in the number of CS bachelor’s degrees granted in 2004/2005. (These numbers will be released March 1).

Interest in CE has been tracked only since 2002, and has fallen every year since then. In the Fall of 2005, 1.2 percent of incoming freshmen indicated CE as their probable major.

More information about the survey, including the rapid drop in interest in CS among women, can be found at http://www.cra.org/CRN/articles/may05/vegso