Exceperted, paraphrased, and otherwise blatantly pulled from the New York Times, June 10, 2011 Article by Claire Cain Miller, paraphrased by Stacy Cahoon Hughes of Neumont University: Computer Studies Made Cool, on Film and Now on Campus
It’s become very glamorous to become the next Mark Zuckerberg, and everyone likes to think they have some great idea,” said Ms. Fong, a junior, who has since decided to major in Yale’s newly energized computer science program.
Never mind that Mr. Zuckerberg, like other tech titans, did not major in computer science — or even finish college. Enrollment in computer science programs, and degrees from them, are rising after a decade of decreases, despite much handwringing about the decline of American competitiveness in technology and innovation from President Obama on down. And educators and technologists say the inspiration is partly Hollywood’s portrayal of the tech world, as well as celebrity entrepreneurs like Steven P. Jobs of Apple and Mr. Zuckerberg who make products that students use every day.
“It’s a national call, a Sputnik moment,” said Mehran Sahami, associate chairman for computer science education at Stanford, referring to the Soviet satellite launching in 1957 that pushed the United States into the space race. “Students are users of Facebook or Google, and they think about how the people who created it are not that much different than themselves. The realization that I can do this too is a powerful motivator.”
The number of computer science degrees awarded in the United States began rising in 2010, and will reach 11,000 this year, after plummeting each year since the end of the dot-com bubble in 2004, according to the Computing Research Association, which tracks enrollment and degrees. Enrollment in the major peaked around 2000, with the most degrees — 21,000 — awarded four years later. The number of students who are pursuing the degree but have not yet declared their major increased by 50 percent last year.
To capitalize on the growing cachet of the tech industry, colleges nationwide, including Stanford, the University of Washington, Neumont University, and the University of Southern California, have recently revamped their computer science curriculums to attract iPhone and Facebook-obsessed students, and to banish the perception of the computer scientist as a geek typing code in a basement."
In 2011, Neumont will enroll students in Web Design and Development programs, and a Software and Game Development program designed for PC, Console, and gaming on mobile devices - both in response to a growing national need for highly skilled developers in every medium. This comes on the heels of the introduction of Neumont's BS in Technology Management Program which started it's first class of students in 2010.
Neumont has long been touting the fact that there is a breadth of career options available for people with a degree in computer science, and it seems the rest of the country's educators are now catching on. But, as Neumont has also long mentioned, in order to be successful, these program have to embrace applied CS principles and move away from the more theory-oriented curriculums of the past.
“The old-fashioned way of computer science is, ‘We’re going to teach you a bunch of stuff that is fundamental and will be long-lasting but we won’t tell you how it’s applied,’ ” said Michael Zyda, director of the University of Southern California’s GamePipe Laboratory, a new games program in the computer science major. With the rejuvenated classes, freshman enrollment in computer science at the university grew to 120 last year, from 25 in 2006.
Still, computer science graduates do not come close to filling the jobs available. Technology is one of the few bright spots in the economy, with jobs growing at double the rate of job growth over all, according to federal statistics. And colleges say they do not have enough resources or professors to teach interested students. Meanwhile, the programs woefully lag in attracting women and many minorities, though the share of computer science degrees granted to women climbed 2.5 percentage points last year to 14 percent.
In 2010, Neumont received national media attention due to the fact that Neumont's female graduates often out-earn their male counterparts, recieve more job offers, and are more quicly promoted within the field.
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