Dive Brief:
- Students and local employers in Washington seem to have an insatiable demand for computer science skills, and the state’s colleges and universities are struggling to expand program capacity fast enough to satisfy them.
- The Seattle Times reports computer science pre-majors and majors numbered 100 students at Western Washington University five years ago. Now they number more than 500, and other institutions have seen their own computer science programs double in size in that time.
- Two-year Bellevue College is seeking approval for a bachelor’s degree in computer science to help the state’s four-year colleges meet demand that so far has made the majors increasingly competitive for students to get into.
Dive Insight:
The problem of demand for computer science classes at colleges across the country stems from students who want to major and get careers in the field, and it is also from students who simply want to take an introductory course and get the basics that can provide a foundation for jobs in other industries. Data analysis is becoming an incredibly marketable skill for virtually every career. That has prompted joint majors at the undergraduate level like Stanford’s CS+X degree. The degree lets students pair computer science with a humanities program. More liberal arts schools across the country are embracing computer science, as well, incorporating interdisciplinary work into their traditional programs. The programs serve as a recruiting tool for students who might not be interested in pressing ahead with a humanities major, exclusively.