It used to be that a four-year college degree was necessary for a professional job. Not so much these days. At least not for IT.
Data from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) indicate that the number of computer science degrees conferred annually has dropped sharply from a peak in 2003. At the same time, graduation from coding boot camps is on the rise. According to one estimate, coding boot camps will train about 16,056 students in 2015. That’s nearly triple the number trained only one year ago.
It seems that while the demand for IT professionals continues to grow at an impressive rate, the number of comp sci graduates is falling. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economics and Statistics Administration reported that only 35 percent of college-educated computer and math workers have a degree in computer science or math. And only about two-thirds of STEM workers have a college degree of any kind.
The reason for this trend may have something to do with the escalating cost of a college degree. But many experts say that the real problem is that colleges and universities just can’t keep up with the rapid changes in IT. Daniel Gelernter, CEO of tech startup Dittach, commented that “university computer science departments are in miserable shape: 10 years behind in a field that changes every 10 minutes.”
Nevertheless, many experts believe that traditional computer science degrees have their place. But they can’t be expected to train more than a fraction of the IT workers in demand. Multiple educational approaches will be increasingly important in supplying the computer professionals we need in our tech-dominated economy.
Our advice? Go to college anyway. An education is more than job training.