US undergraduate computer science enrollment falls 12.4% as AI rattles coding jobs
US undergraduate computer science enrollment dropped 12.4% this fall, the National Student Clearinghouse says, as AI cuts into entry-level coding jobs.
The biggest line in this year's college numbers is a plunge. Undergraduate computer science enrollment at four-year institutions fell 12.4% year over year this fall, the largest loss of any subject area, according to preliminary data the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center released Thursday, as reported by Higher Ed Dive.
The Asia Business Daily adds that graduate enrollment in the field fell by more than 10%, and that this is the second straight year of decline. Over two years, undergraduate computer and information science enrollment is down 18.4% and graduate enrollment is down 27.1%.
The rest of the picture is calm by comparison. Total undergraduate enrollment rose just 0.6%, slowing from 2.4% last year, with community colleges (up 1.2%) doing the lifting. Engineering and health professional programs each jumped by more than 6%. Master's enrollment fell 3.7%.
The context is the job market. The Asia Business Daily reports that companies are cutting large numbers of entry-level coding jobs, and that an August Bureau of Labor Statistics report projected computer- and mathematics-related occupations would be among those most affected by AI. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York put 2024 unemployment for recent computer science and computer engineering graduates at 7% and 7.8%.
Matthew Holsapple of the Clearinghouse told Bloomberg News: "That is a surprising drop, given that this had been one of the fastest-growing fields in higher education until recently." The data covers 46% of reporting institutions, and final numbers arrive in January.
My take: students read the room faster than any registrar. When undergraduate enrollment in computer science at four-year institutions drops by roughly an eighth in one fall, that is a market speaking, and it is speaking loudly.
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Sources
- Undergraduate enrollment inched up this fall, while master’s dips 3.7%, Higher Ed Dive
- U.S. Computer Science Majors Lose Jobs to AI... Enrollment Also Falls, The Asia Business Daily
Meanwhile at the anchor desk
The 12.4% is a measured enrollment drop; the cause is not measured. The sources cite layoffs and AI as context, but the Clearinghouse data does not tell us why any single student switched majors.
Meanwhile engineering and health programs are each up more than 6%. Students are not leaving the building, they are just picking a different door.
