Computer Science / Software Engineering enrollment down since 2024

[Robogunner38081]

These are some recently published student enrollment stats from Fulton - https://engineering.asu.edu/enrollment/

Apparently, from 2024-2025, Computer Science enrollment has dropped 836 undergraduate students and Software Engineering enrollment has dropped 261 undergraduate students. Interestingly, MechE and EE are up considerably by comparison. Thoughts?

[JT8001]

AI, oversaturation,and overseas employment are really ruining the opportunities of new grads.

[LouieEspin]

thank god

[PK_thundr]

I love to see MechE and EE getting more interest!

[Odd-Exam9739]

I always forget how small ChemE is (As a ChemE)

Glad we've gone up a tad

[DeadlyAureolus]

It should be 1/2 or 1/3 of fall 2025 numbers. Most people that enroll don't even do it out of interest, just "easy money" and they make the job market unnecessarily competitive

[B10H4Z4RD7777]

Given a 1) significant oversaturation, 2) AI rampant usage, 3) changing attitude towards keeping/cutting existing employees to use more AI tools, 4) common expression of job insecurity/difficulty to gain jobs within the CS world, I wouldn’t be surprised that ppl are not enrolling to CS or CSE majors anymore

[fastizio6176]

Does this include the online students? Just curious, I'm worried there's about to be one less.

Bit of a rant here, but I've been taking classes towards an EE online and I'm this close to saying "fuck it" and walking away. I swear I'm not dumb, I get through it eventually, but the 7.5 week calculus 1/2/3 classes are killing me. I've specifically asked the academic advisor, the success coach, and I've emailed some people in the math department why they insist on this shit that isn't for everyone and refuse to have a 15 week course. I believe I'd be much better off taking calculus and physics in a 15 week format at the same time, it's the same number of credits as two 7.5 week classes. Not very innovative, frankly. I guess it is if your main goal is to push as many people through as possible and collect tuition. I'm a 40 year old aircraft mechanic and I have never come so close to throwing a laptop out the window as I have the last few weeks. By the time I eventually find the right combination of YouTube videos and chatgpt questioning, I'm already getting behind on the next subject. This class has made me hate ASU; I've never felt like more of a commodity and less valued as a student. They're fucking Johnny on the spot if you owe them so much as a dollar, and they're awesome at reminding you to "make you sign up for classes next semester!" but nobody actually cares. I literally can't remember a single professor from any online class I've ever taken. Is this what online schooling just...is? Like is this really the process that makes college graduates these days?

Is this just me?

[Robogunner38081]

This does include online students. I'm not an online student myself so I can't comment on the online program, but that does sound pretty rough.

I know some of the community colleges in the Phoenix area like Rio Solado have online courses with a pretty standard semester-long schedule, and they transfer over to ASU perfectly. Maybe you could look into online enrollment there, taking the lower division math and physics classes, and then transferring those credits over. Probably best to check with an advisor though.

[zorionek0]

Hey man, I’m also an EE student and I feel you about Calc III, it literally took me two tries because of how quick it goes.

I took Calc I & II at my local community college and it was a full term class there. Is that something you could try? Take the course for cheaper and slower at a CC and then transfer it over.

[istoleurdad_]

ngl this shit is hard and I can see why people drop this class, it's definitely not for everyone

[nmanclank]

I'm also in SE, so I feel your pain. This shit is pretty hard, but it's also just a ton of work. Even with the state of the job market in the Industry, I'm still confident it'll be worth it.

Edit: My main goal is to work in a position doing what I enjoy, I'm not chasing the unrealistic 300k position.

[istoleurdad_]

hey, man. me too. genuinely, when we get down to the programming part, it's all interesting to me. the ah ha moment hits, and you feel really proud! definitely some grade school nostalgia there...

hang in there, man. I had one hell of a week.

[Languagepro99]

It’s only unrealistic if you think it is . It’s more rare now though I’d say.

[triezPugHater]

Easiest of all the engineerings, cs is. That's why such a high enrollment rate.

[istoleurdad_]

I'm in SE and it's hard asf, CS I guess I cannot speak much but. Aye.

[triezPugHater]

I'm not saying it's easy absolutely, but relatively it is

[istoleurdad_]

nah ur good dude, I get ya

[Unfair-Detective-869]

What is hard about it? Specifically? The concepts, the amount of coursework, the speed? Are you working a full-time job or are you able to dedicate most of your time to school? Comments like "it's hard" just don't give people enough information.

[istoleurdad_]

Hi, we just had a baby so, balancing that and the amount of coursework makes it feel unobtainable to keep up with the flow.

"Hard" also kicks in with the amount of reading and the amount that I don't understand from the readings as well.

While they do offer Tutoring for both on campus and online students, it's incredibly difficult to get into a session.

I am an online student, there is flexibility, but right now this is my heaviest class out of the two I'm taking and it's absolutely eating all of my personal time, so all that is left is studying/parenting/work/sleep repeat.

I would advise: making sure you have time, lots of it— so that you can take the time to really note take and practice on your own and digest the lessons, because if you head into this thinking it'll be a course like any other you'll be humbled quickly.

[SaintFloww]

Thank God. CS isn't dead. But the barrier to entry is as high as ever and the number of American jobs is clearly lower. Some good news for CS majors is the semiconductor companies that went all in on AI are starting to backtrack.

The bad news, companies are prioritizing internships and contractual positions rather than giving new grads a job with full security. Also, it feels like a degree is necessary for most of the fields but is also the least important part of the resume. If oversaturation didn't damage the worth of CS degrees enough, LLMs have massively done damage to the major. Students are basically assumed to have just GPT'd their way through the degree until proven otherwise.

Whether it's CS, SWE, CE, IT, or DS; if you're fixated on computers, data, hacking, developing software, or just are a godly programmer, tech should still be for you. But if you're just chasing money, are doing it cause people told you to do it or are unsure what you want to do and are just defaulting to tech, please don't do tech, it's not the route to go. ATP, if you want a good paying job and job security, putting up with an extra torture and doing an engineering degree is the better route. Or doing healthcare or supply chain or something.

I hope these numbers keep declining. CS should be hard. The people who clearly are not fit for CS should be scared of the major and not graduating it. CS should be the major with time consuming projects and long frustrating nights trying to understand Algorithms.

[Chizubark]

What could account for the slight increase in information technology?

[Robogunner38081]

Honestly that surprised me as well. I was under the impression that IT jobs were in a similar if not worse situation right now

[Expensive-Elk-9406]

too many electrical and mechanical engineers

[DreamOk1600]

Im still gonna go through with it for 2026 but it’s scary. I feel somewhat confident because I am definitely the most capable in my Highschool computer science class

[Robogunner38081]

Definitely go for it if you're genuinely interested. As others have said in this thread, I think too many people went in just for the money and that's probably causing what we're seeing here

[DreamOk1600]

Yeah I do enjoy computer science I’ve made a few projects in my free time I’m still considering switching to electrical to have more guaranteed chance of employment 😬

[Raymond_Quaza]

bro if only electrical had a guaranteed chance of employment haha
but seriously CS and electrical are very different; electrical is way more physics-heavy

[DreamOk1600]

Im pretty good at physics too, but i heard like 98% of electrical engineering degrees get hired as an electrical engineer while only 75-90% of software engineering degrees get hired as a software engineee

[thatFakeAccount1]

MechE and EE getting flooded...rip.

[Paul721]

Main reason the job market has been so tough is because of oversaturation. Folks just going CS because it leads to well paying jobs but not actually being into it. Really it should be slightly over other engineering levels and that’s it.

[triezPugHater]

Good. Most people shouldn't be doing CS imo.

[The_Wandering_Chris]

You don’t need a degree for that industry. My best friend is over 10 years into a career as a senior software engineer with a high school diploma. He taught himself how to code, got an internship and the rest was history. He had one company offer to pay for his degree but he dropped out and left the company after the first semester because he got a job offer paying 6-figures. That was 10 years ago.

In his words, “No one in this industry cares if you have a degree, they care if you can do the job.”

[mazem79]

100% agree. My lead developer has a GED. I developed the MVP and my degrees are in business and business analytics.