Interesting data from the New York Times regarding how Computer Science is making a comeback at colleges and universities nationwide. It exploded within the last five to ten years as it became a lucrative field, but with the dot-com bubble bursting, the numbers fell off… but this year, they’re back up. That’s promising, and good to see that Stony Brook’s followed the trend (see page 3 of this PDF), up last year in total students after shrinking by half over the previous four years.
Our ABET-accredited Computer Science program has changed and grown with the times, thankfully. We’ve added combined BS/MS and BS/MBA programs, added mandatory coursework in Professional Ethics, built a top-notch Computer Science Honors program, and developed two specializations, in Game Programming and in Human-Computer Interaction.
I don’t know if this is a blip or a trend, but it certainly bears watching.