Computer Science

Career Information

• The latest 10-year Bureau of Labor Statistics projections for highest growth:
  • top 3 industries: "Management/scientific/technical consulting services" (77.9%), "home health care services" (55.4%), and "computer systems design & related services" (38.3%).
  • top 6 more specific occupations: "Network systems and data communications analysts" (53.4%), "Personal and home care aides" (50.6%), "Home health aides" (48.7%), "Computer software engineers, applications" (44.6%), "Medical assistants" (35.4%), and "Computer systems analysts" (29.0%).
  References: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.t02.htm (local copy here),
  http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.t05.htm (local copy here).
• Computing-related jobs constitute 5 out of the 10 highest paid jobs from among the 30 fastest growing jobs in an analysis of slightly older BLS statistics.
  Reference: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/Careers/01/26/cb.top.jobs.pay/index.html (local copy here).
• A Chicago Sun Times article of 11/4/08 on the top 10 recession-proof jobs based on the book 150 Best Recession-Proof Jobs lists the top 3 as Computer systems analyst, Network systems and data communications analyst, and Network and computer systems administrator.
  CareerCast.com ratings for the 10 best jobs in America include 5 math and computing related jobs.
  Reference: http://www.careercast.com/jobs/content/JobsRated_10BestJobs (local copy here).
• Computer science graduates are in consistently high demand by employers at all degree levels.
  References: http://www.jobweb.com/studentarticles.aspx?id=1219 (local copy here),
  http://www.graduatingengineer.com/futuredisc/compsci.html (local copy here).
• A key study concludes offshoring is probably good for the economy and computing professions in the U.S.; there are more IT jobs here today than at the height of the "dot.com boom" in the late 1990s.
  Reference: http://www.acm.org/globalizationreport/summary.htm (local copy here).
• College enrollments in computer science are down nationally, creating increased opportunity for students who pursue education in this area. A survey in 2005 found that just 1 in 75 college students planned to major in computer science, down from 1 in 30 in year 2000. Enrollments are just beginning to tick back up after 5 years of declines.
  References: http://www.cra.org/CRN/articles/march09/Bizot_taulbee.html (local copy here),
  http://www.cra.org/CRN/articles/may05/vegso (local copy here).
• Recent data shows job openings far exceeding degree production.
  Reference: http://usacm.acm.org/usacm/weblog/index.php?p=542 (UPDATED GRAPHIC)
• Studying computer science leads to a wide variety of career possibilities in a very diverse set of industries and agencies. References: Forrester Research Data Reported by Prentice Hall,
  http://www.khake.com/page17.html (local copy here),
  http://careerservices.rutgers.edu/Mcomputer.html (local copy here),
  http://www.luc.edu/career/pdfs/computer.pdf (local copy here),
  http://www.cs.luc.edu/jobs#placement