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3 The Current Landscape of Computer Science Enrollments
Pages 39-66

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From page 39...
... ; 3. The CRA Enrollment Survey results on recent enrollments in computing courses for subsets of Ph.D.-granting universities and non-doctoral col leges, respectively; 4.
From page 40...
... It then discusses the current landscape of hiring of new CS faculty and the responses that institutions have considered or begun taking in response to increasing enrollments. BACHELOR'S DEGREE ENROLLMENT IN COMPUTER SCIENCE The data presented in the previous chapter clearly illustrate the recent boom in CS degree production through 2015, but do not provide insight into the number of majors currently in the pipeline.
From page 41...
... . A recent report from the American Society for Engineering Education also provides time series data on CS major enrollments for those CS programs housed FIGURE 3.1  Average number of declared CS majors (freshman through seniors)
From page 42...
... Given that interest in CS as a major has increased steeply from 2011 to 2015, the data suggest that in 2015 CS degree production as a fraction of all degrees had just begun to increase sharply, and will continue to increase through at least the spring of 2020 in the absence of any unforeseen disruption or widespread actions taken by institutions to limit the number of majors. HYBRID MODELS OF COMPUTER SCIENCE MAJORS While the preceding section provides evidence that enrollments in some CS degree programs is surging, other types of degrees with significant computational components are simultaneously emerging.
From page 43...
... . SOURCE: Data from IPEDS completions survey accessed via the ­ ebCASPAR W online database (see Appendix F for details)
From page 44...
... In the subsequent sections course enrollment trends of both majors and non-majors are discussed. COURSE ENROLLMENT In the face of increasing CS bachelor's degree production and major enrollment, in 2016 the CRA sent out a supplemental Enrollment Survey to "units" (programs, departments, divisions, schools, and colleges)
From page 45...
... Course Enrollment by Majors at Doctoral and Non-Doctoral Institutions Course enrollment of CS majors for 2005, 2010, and 2015 at doctoral and non-doctoral institutions responding to the CRA Enrollments Survey is illustrated in Figures 3.4 and 3.5. On average, course enrollments by majors have grown for all course levels for both categories of institution, with the largest growth experienced between 2010 and 2015.
From page 46...
... 2017a. Generation CS: Computer Science Undergraduate Enrollments Surge Since 2006.
From page 47...
... Course Enrollments by Non-Majors at Doctoral and Non-Doctoral Institutions Responding doctoral institutions reported similar growth among non-majors at all course levels. The mean enrollment by non-majors in representative introductory classes not required for the major increased by an average of 55 percent from 2005 to 2015 (among the 38 respondents who reported a distinct course)
From page 48...
... 2017a. Generation CS: Computer Science Undergraduate Enrollments Surge Since 2006.
From page 49...
... , it is important to note again the poor survey response rates, especially for the non-doctoral institutions (approximately 2.8 percent of all surveyed non-doctoral institutions provided course enrollments data, compared to approximately 24 percent for the doctoral institutions)
From page 50...
... degree programs at the seven "founding"8 CAHSI departments from 2011 to 2016 is illustrated in Figure 3.8, including five CS departments and two computer engineering (CE) departments.
From page 51...
... Retention has always been an important focus of CAHSI departments, but increasing enrollments have placed more pressure on departments to meet the needs of students with even more varied academic backgrounds than in the past. CUSTEMS Institutions Another view of course enrollments is provided by the Consortium for Under­ raduate STEM Success (CUSTEMS)
From page 52...
... While the committee did not find quantitative data that illustrate current enrollment trends for computing minors, it is aware of several institutions where the number of minors has increased substantially in the recent past. For example, the number of computer science minors has more than tripled at the Colorado School of Mines in six short years (from 10 in 2011 to 37 in 2017)
From page 53...
... , and students majoring in neither CS nor a STEM field (nonSTEM non-majors)
From page 54...
... It is clear that enrollments in several computer science courses include a large increase in the number of non-majors taking computing courses. As previously noted these increases are occurring not just at the introductory course level but also at the mid and upper levels.
From page 55...
... In addition, some institutions (e.g., Harvey Mudd College and Colorado School of Mines) have worked to create a supportive environment for students with no prior coding experience by splitting their introductory programming course into two types of sections: those with prior FIGURE 3.11  Percentage of students responding to CRA Student Enrollments Survey in an introductory computing course who stated that the course was required for their degree program, by major.
From page 56...
... His November 2016 report analyzed job ads from 347 institutions seeking to fill hundreds of tenure-track faculty positions in computer science departments. Of these, 313 (90 percent)
From page 57...
... Since faculty hiring needs and student growth trends differ by institution type and other characteristics, the trend does not necessarily reflect the situation across a broader spectrum of institutions.11 Figure 3.12 shows that the rate of growth of CS majors exceeds the rate of faculty growth by a large margin. Between 2006 and 2015 the number of computer science majors at these universities has increased by 291 percent (from an average of 192.4 to 753 students)
From page 58...
... 2017a. Generation CS: Computer Science Undergraduate Enrollments Surge Since 2006.
From page 59...
... SOURCE: Data from IPEDS completions survey accessed via the WebCASPAR online database. See Appendix F for details.
From page 60...
... Based on these percentages, we estimate that about 340 new Ph.D.s took an academic position in the United States in 2016: 11 percent of the about 2,000 new Ph.D.s in 2016 and 7 percent of the 1,884 Ph.D.s from 2014 who took a post-doctorate first. Comparing this to the conservative estimate of 540 open computer science tenure-track positions in the United States suggests that only 63 percent of the open faculty positions could be filled from this pool.
From page 61...
... The Taulbee Survey asks departments how many of the open positions were filled. CS faculty hiring has become a significant challenge nationwide.
From page 62...
... . SOURCE: IPEDS degree completions data accessed via the WebCASPAR online database.
From page 63...
... needs.15 FINDING 3: With more than half of new CS Ph.D.s drawn to opportunities in industry, hiring and retaining CS faculty is currently an acute challenge that limits institutions' abilities to respond to increasing CS enrollments. ACTIONS TAKEN OR CONSIDERED IN THE FACE OF CURRENT ENROLLMENT GROWTH Evidence from the CRA Enrollment Survey shows that many institutions have already taken actions in response to increasing enrollments in CS, and many others are beginning to consider what might be done (CRA, 2017a)
From page 64...
... 2017a. Generation CS: Computer Science Undergraduate Enrollments Surge Since 2006.
From page 65...
... THE CURRENT LANDSCAPE OF COMPUTER SCIENCE ENROLLMENTS 65 tightened their requirements for the major, while almost 30 percent of responding doctoral-granting institutions have done so. While this survey illustrates actions that institutions are currently taking, it fails to illuminate the impacts that these actions may have on students.


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