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You're considering pursuing a college degree ... possibly a degree in Computer
Science ... possibly a degree in Computer Science at the University of Colorado
at Boulder. Pursuing a college degree, whether undergraduate or graduate, in
any field at any university involves a considerable amount of time, effort and
usually money. So it's certainly a good idea to choose a discipline and degree
program carefully.
CU Engineering Center
While many people are at least somewhat familiar with computers
(usually a personal computer), most people don't have a very good
understanding of what the discipline of "computer science" is really
all about.
Similarly, while many people have "heard something" about the job
market for computer scientists, most are really unaware that the
current and projected outlook for computer science job opportunities
is quite good.
Finally, while many people may have some vague idea of the
computer science degree programs offered at the University of Colorado
at Boulder, most would not really have a real understanding of them
until they actually investigated these offerings.
Understanding these first two aspects of computer science -- the discipline
and the job market -- are very important when considering a computer science
degree at any university. The third aspect -- the nature of the
computer science degree programs available at the University of Colorado at
Boulder -- is certainly important if considering a computer science degree at
CU. We'd like to provide a little information on these three issues to help you
in making an informed decision.
So what is computer science? There are a number of definitions of
computer science. Here's a simple one:
com.put.er sci.ence n :
The study of computer technology, both hardware and software.
Well ... that sure sounds kind of broad ... computer science is the
study of almost anything to do with computer technology! That's right,
but how about some concrete examples? Fortunately, there are many, many
sub-areas within the broader discipline of computer science, and new areas are
continuously being created as the discipline advances. Let's look at just a
few of these sub-areas of computer science:
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- Hardware Systems
- Scientific Computing
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That's quite a few sub-areas ... and we haven't really even listed all of
them. Also, each of these sub-areas of computer science is actually a huge
discipline in its own right.
Computer science has certainly become a core discipline -- a discipline of
study in itself -- and one that continues to grow. However, a rather unique
aspect of computer science is that it's not only a very broad discipline,
but that it has exceptionally broad application to nearly
every other discipline imaginable:
OK ... you get the picture. These are just a very few of the
disciplines to which computer science may be readily applied. And it's
very easy to find many, many more. In fact, the more difficult task is to find
a discipline to which computer science can't be (and isn't
being) readily applied. (If you think of one, please let us know!)
As you can see, our lives are touched almost continuously by computers
(and therefore by computer scientists!) every day in a huge variety of ways.
It's clear that computer science is a huge discipline with extremely broad
application. But what about the job market for computer science graduates?
A degree isn't terribly useful unless it's possible to use that degree to
launch a career.
The general public often perceives the job market for computer scientists as
rather bleak indeed. Certainly, there was a huge downturn in the market
several years ago; however, there has been steady and considerable improvement
since that time, to the point that shortages of qualified computer scientists
are projected over the coming decade. Here are a few interesting items related
to the computer science job market:
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Money Magazine
recently published
"Best Jobs in America".
Leading the list ... "Software engineer". Here are the Top 10:
| Best Jobs in America |
| 1. |
Software engineer
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| 2. |
College professor
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| 3. |
Financial advisor
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| 4. |
Human resources manager
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| 5. |
Physician assistant
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| 6. |
Market research analyst
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| 7. |
Computer/IT analyst
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| 8. |
Real estate appraiser
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| 9. |
Pharmacist
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| 10. |
Psychologist
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CollegeBoard.com (the SAT people)
published
"Occupations with the Most New Jobs: Bachelor's Degrees", compiled
from U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics projections for
2002-2012. Six of the 10 occupations with the most new jobs were computer
science-related occupations.
Occupations with the Most New Jobs: Bachelor's Degrees
2002-2012 |
| 1. |
Elementary school teachers, except special education
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| 2. |
Accountants and auditors
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| 3. |
Computer systems analysts
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| 4. |
Secondary school teachers, except special and vocational education
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| 5. |
Computer software engineers, applications
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| 6. |
Special education teachers
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| 7. |
Computer software engineers, systems software
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| 8. |
Network systems and data communications analysts
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| 9. |
Network and computer systems administrators
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| 10. |
Computer programmers
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The same organization has also published "Ten Fastest Growing Occupations for College Grads". Again, 5 of the top 10 jobs are computer science related.
Ten Fastest Growing Occupations for College Grads
2004-2014 |
| 1. |
Network systems and data communications analysts
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| 2. |
Physician assistants
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| 3. |
Computer software engineers, applications
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| 4. |
Physical therapist assistants
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| 5. |
Dental hygienists
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| 6. |
Computer software engineers, systems software
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| 7. |
Network and computer systems administrators
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| 8. |
Database administrators
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| 9. |
Physical therapists
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| 10. |
Forensic science technicians
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Fortune magazine recently
published a list of the "Fastest-Growing Professional Jobs", also
based on U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics projections for
2002-2012. Seven of the 19 fastest growing jobs were computer science-related
positions.
Fastest-Growing Professional Jobs
2002-2012 |
| 1. |
Environmental engineers
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| 2. |
Network systems and datacom analysts
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| 3. |
Personal financial advisors
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| 4. |
Database administrators
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| 5. |
Software engineers
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| 6. |
Emergency management specialists
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| 7. |
Biomedical engineers
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| 8. |
PR specialists
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| 9. |
Computer and infosystems managers
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| 10. |
Comp, benefits, and job analysts
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| 11. |
Systems analysts
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| 12. |
Network and systems administrators
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| 13. |
Training and development specialists
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| 14. |
Medical scientists
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| 15. |
Marketing and sales managers
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| 16. |
Computer specialists
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| 17. |
Media and communications specialists
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| 18. |
Counselors, social workers
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| 19. |
Lawyers
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The Association for Computing Machinery
has produced an excellent brochure called
Computing Degrees & Careers: Today's High-Tech Growth Is Tomorrow's High-Tech Boom!:
The need for computing professionals and executives right here in the U.S. is
growing as companies become more global. Almost every major challenge facing
our world is turning to computing for a solution, from conquering disease to
eliminating hunger, from improving education to protecting the environment
...
Want in? A college degree in a computing major will make it happen. Although
you typically don't need prior training in computing, your high school may have
classes that can help you get a head start. Talk with your guidance counselor
and your school's computer science teachers to learn more about the
opportunities available to you now and in the future, or visit our
Computing Degrees & Careers website.
In particular, you may be interested in the following from the site:
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On the local scene, the Boulder
Daily Camera recently
published an article focusing on undergraduate enrollment in Computer Science.
"Computer study powers down: But educators, employers say demand remains for hiring"
describes how decreased enrollment in Computer Science at CU mirrors that
across the country. The main points of the article are
Trend analysts attribute the decline to the widespread perception
that the tech industry has become unprofitable.
Department of Labor statistics project employment in the information
technology industry to grow at an annual rate double that of overall
job growth.
Computing is pervasive ... there is a growing and persistent need for
people with information technology skills.
A considerable shortage of new graduates to fill these jobs is
predicted.
Local companies are hiring, particularly people with backgrounds in
computer science combined with expertise in other fields.
CU's Computer Science Department has revised its program to allow
more interdisciplinary study.
In the article former Department Chair Elizabeth Bradley says,
"fewer students -- both locally and nationally -- are pursuing computer science
majors because of misguided fears about the technology industry, even though
projections show increased hiring in the sector in years to come."
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In another article,
Not adding up: Schools faced with an enrollment drop in computer-science students,
the Daily Camera
describes how enrollment in Computer Science is dropping, while demand for
graduates is increasing. The article also includes photographs from the CU
Computer Science class "Things That Think".
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In
CU student gets his 'dream' job: Engineering graduate will start at DreamWorks next month,
the Daily Camera
describes how Computer Science major Jacob Melvin
"customized" his degree program and landed the perfect job.
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The Computer Science Department maintains a
Computer Science Jobs Mailing List,
to which anyone who wants to receive job-related postings may subscribe.
As further anecdotal evidence of the improving job market for computer science
graduates, it's interesting to look at the average number of postings per month
to the jobs list over the past several years. The number of postings has
steadily increased from a very minimal 4 postings/month in 2002 to a very
substantial 61 postings/month in 2006.
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Other items of interest:
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Computer and Mathematical Science Occupations Expected to Grow Quickest Over the Next Decade
Peter Harsha, Director of Government Affairs for the
Computing Research Association, says that
"The new Bureau of Labor Statistics
labor projections
are out for the 2006-2016 period, and once again, despite concerns over
the impact of globalization, computing-related occupations are still
projected to grow the quickest among all 'professional and related
occupations.' According to BLS projections, computer and mathematical
science occupations are expected to grow by about 24 percent over the
next decade, a rate that would add 822,000 new jobs to the field.
Those 822,000 new jobs are third only to 'Health care practitioners and
technical occupations' ... and 'Education, training and library'
occupations ..."
The report projects that, of the six occupations that will be among the
fastest growing and register the largest numerical growth, three will
be computing related occupations:
- computer software engineers, application
- computer systems analysts
- network systems and data communication analysts
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Engineers wanted! Will pay very well: Web 2.0 Developers in Great Demand
siliconvalley.com
reports that demand for web engineers, particularly those versed in
Web 2.0 technologies that focus on social networking and other
cutting edge sites, has soared. Companies are "looking for a new breed
of engineer who can write code from both sides of the brain ...
the most sought-after also have a design sensibility and an intuitive
understanding of how people communicate online."
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The Myth of High-Tech Outsourcing
Yahoo! News reports that
High-tech employees are back in demand.
Unemployment for engineers, computer programmers, software
developers, and other IT professionals is at the lowest rate
in years.
... there is so much global demand for employees proficient in
programming languages, engineering, and other skills demanding
higher level technology knowledge that outsourcing can't meet
all U.S. needs.
Many of the available jobs are for companies that have proven
returns -- not ideas that have yet to pan out.
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BLS Projects IT Workforce to Add a Million New Jobs between 2004 and 2014
The Computing Research Association
says that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates that the
professional-level IT workforce will grow at more than twice the rate
of the overall workforce between 2004 and 2014, creating 1 in 19 new
jobs. In addition, many of these jobs will pay well.
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Tech Tuesday: Computer Science as a Major
A WAMU radio talk show host
Kojo Nnamdi looks at how colleges teach Computer
Science and its vitality today. Featured guests are
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Joanne Cohoon, Sociologist and Professor of
Science, Technology, and Society, University of Virginia
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Stuart Zweben, Chair, Computer Science and
Engineering Department, Ohio State University
Topics discussed include the recent decline in students (particularly
women) majoring in computer science, projected job growth and the
shortage of qualified workers in the field, preparation provided by a
computer science degree, computer science stereotypes, the expanding
discipline of computer science, the role of a university education
vs. job training, programming vs. computer science, coursework vs.
practical experience, and the current job market.
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Need a Job? Good News -- Prospects and Paychecks Increase
In the
National Association of Colleges & Employers
(NACE) Spring 2005 Salary Survey, decision-makers from human resource
departments across the country weighed in on the top ten jobs most
offered to bachelor's degree candidates this year.
"Software Design & Development" was one of these top ten job
functions.
The job function paying the highest average salary of the top ten ...
"Software Design & Development".
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Bachelor's Degrees In Computer Engineering Continue to Rise
The American Association of Engineering Societies
Engineering Workforce Commission
reports that computer engineering continues to be the most popular
engineering discipline.
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Computer science fighting for time: Advocates clamor for more courses in public schools
The Computer Science Teachers Association,
which says that the nation needs students who are prepared to develop
software, design hardware, program languages and manage databases, is
promoting a
model curriculum
that integrates computer science through every grade.
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A Techie, Absolutely, and More
The New York Times
reports that Computer Science graduates are doing much more than
software development with their degrees.
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IT jobs call stateside, but who's answering?
The Seattle Times
interviews University of Washington Department of Computer Science Chair
David Notkin. Notkin discusses the shortage of
skilled computer science graduates.
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A Conversation with Bill Gates at the 2005 Microsoft Faculty Summit
Princeton University Dean of Engineering Maria Klawe
discusses important topics in Computer Science with Chairman and Chief
Software Architect of Microsoft, Bill Gates, at a
gathering of computer science faculty in Redmond. A few quotes:
Microsoft is trying to hire every great college graduate who has
basic computer science skills and we think is highly talented. When
I sit down and review projects here inside the company, the topic
that always comes up is how is the hiring going, we've got open
headcount, these are super well-paying jobs ...
Some people say, well, doesn't this mean there will just be a
shift to Asia of a lot of this activity, and there will be
some, but you take a company like ours, we're going to always have
the vast majority of our development taking place in this location.
We like to do things in a unified way, and so even though India and
China are going to grow quite a bit, it's a big problem for us that
we can't get these great students.
We have this interesting paradox where in China and India we can
get lots of engineers but getting people who have sort of what we
call program management type skills or general management type
skills, it's very hard to find enough of those, whereas here in the
United States we do pretty well at getting people with those skill
sets, but then it's just the engineering we're very short of what
we'd like to get. And so the competition for somebody who's got the
right background is just phenomenal.
All of the issues around natural interface, you know, vision,
speech, ink, modeling, those are areas where the economic value of
getting those things right, whether it's Microsoft or anybody else,
it's the next ten years that it's interesting. I think if I'd
written down in the late '60s, early '70s the interesting problems
in computer science, if anybody had, that we could say that a small
percentage have been solved right now, but that a very high
percentage will be solved in these next 10 to 15 years.
... the nature of these jobs is not just closing your door and
doing coding ... in fact, the greatest missing skill is somebody
who's both good at understanding the engineering and has good
relationships with the hard-core engineers, and bridges that to
working with the customers and the marketing and things like that.
And so that sort of engineering management career track, even
amongst all the people we have, we still fall short of finding
people who want to do that ... And so I'd love to have people who
come to these jobs wanting to think of it as a lot and exercise in
people management and people dynamics, as well as the basic
engineering skills. That would be absolutely amazing. And we can
promise those people within two years of starting that career most
of what they're doing won't be coding ...
... this is a field that's taken a very high-volume, low-price
approach. It's driven breakthroughs, driven the prices down. And so
it's very gratifying, and it's not just for the richest 2 billion
people on the planet, although there are some neat things happening
there, it's for the world at large.
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New Gallup Survey Finds Restaurant Industry Is the Most Highly Regarded in America
... and the computer industry is second!
The Gallup Poll
conducts an annual poll on the images of various business and industry
sectors across the country. The poll asks Americans to rate business
and industry sectors on a five-point scale ranging from "very positive"
to "very negative." The computer industry was ranked second,
trailing only the restaurant industry as the industry most positively
viewed by the public.
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Computing Research Association Bulletin
The Computing Research Association
publishes an online bulletin to provide pointers to reports and other
information that might be of interest to computing researchers,
students and administrators. Topics covered include
Computer Science/Computer Engineering student and faculty demographics,
salaries, R&D, and the IT workforce.
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Sloan Career Cornerstone Center
The Sloan Career Cornerstone Center is a resource center for those
interested in careers in science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics. Their comprehensive education, networking, job hunting,
and career planning resources revolve around personal interviews with
over 400 individuals who offer candid insight into their career paths.
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CU tries to win back IT fervor
The Boulder
Daily Camera
recently reported on "The Future Potential in IT" program held on
the CU campus. A few quotes from the article are of interest:
... IT job openings appear to be on the rebound, according to
experts in the field. The result: a shortage of qualified
candidates for Colorado technology jobs.
"The Future Potential in IT" program will attempt to dispel
the myth that IT jobs are scarce, organizers say, and to
encourage undecided students to consider an IT major -- or
consider adding a technical element to another major.
Local technology companies are growing increasingly concerned
about the shortage of qualified candidates coming out of
Colorado high schools and universities ...
The prospects are looking up for current information systems
majors. The diverse skills acquired in an IS degree uniquely
qualify graduating students for high-paying jobs in a market
projected to grow rapidly during the next six years ...
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2020 -- Future of Computing
nature.com
provides an in-depth look at the direction of the computing field
and its relationship to science:
"In the last two decades advances in computing technology, from
processing speed to network capacity and the internet, have
revolutionized the way scientists work. From sequencing genomes to
monitoring the Earth's climate, many recent scientific advances
would not have been possible without a parallel increase in
computing power -- and with revolutionary technologies such as the
quantum computer edging towards reality, what will the relationship
between computing and science bring us over the next 15 years?"
The outlook for computer science jobs in the coming years is quite good. This
is obviously promising from the standpoint of simply finding a job.
But the nature of computer science is that there are a huge variety of
jobs in the discipline --
jobs addressing a huge variety of problems,
jobs performing a huge variety of types of work,
jobs with a huge variety of companies,
and jobs in a huge variety of geographic locations.
This provides tremendous opportunity for graduates not only to find a
job, but to find the right job for them:
a job addressing interesting problems,
a job performing appropriate types of work,
a job with a well-matched company,
and a job in a desirable geographic location.
The computer science discipline is very broad ... the job possibilities
for computer science graduates are excellent ... what kind of computer
science degrees are being offered at the University of Colorado at Boulder?
We offer two undergraduate and three graduate Computer Science degrees.
While not a separate degree program, there is also the possibility to earn
concurrent BS and MS degrees in Computer Science, significantly reducing the
time necessary to obtain the graduate degree.
 CU Boulder Campus
- Undergraduate Degrees
- Graduate Degrees
- Concurrent Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees
A considerable amount of information about the department and each of its
degree programs is available on this website, which we encourage you to
explore. However, we would like to note a few specific facts:
Nearly all Computer Science
courses,
including undergraduate courses, are taught by regular,
rostered Computer Science
faculty,
rather than by graduate student assistants.
The undergraduate curriculum
offers considerable flexibility in selecting specific coursework to
meet individual student needs, while preparing graduates for
careers in any area of computer science.
There are many opportunities for students to gain practical experience
through
industry co-op and internship programs.
Computer Science faculty are performing world-class
research, and there are
many opportunities for both undergraduates and graduate students to
become involved.
There are currently 334 undergraduate
Computer Science majors and 274
Computer Science graduate students.
There are currently
2761
Computer Science
alumni
working in a wide variety of jobs, in a wide variety of
companies
and in a wide variety of
locations
all over the world.
The University of Colorado at Boulder was recently ranked the
"11th Top Public University in the World"
by The Economist.
The University of Colorado at Boulder Department of Computer Science is located
in Boulder, Colorado on one of the most beautiful college campuses in the
world. Boulder has one of the highest per capita concentrations of
highly-educated workers and high-tech companies to be found anywhere.
It's a great place to to study, to work and to live. We hope you have an
interest in joining us.
There's considerably more information available for anyone considering a degree
in Computer Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder. A good place to
begin further exploration is one of the following:
Finally ... sometimes you may just want to talk to a real person about
computer science and the degree programs available at the University of
Colorado at Boulder. Our undergraduate and graduate program advisors are
exactly the people to see:
Undergraduate Program Advisor
Lesley McDowell
University of Colorado at Boulder
Department of Computer Science
430 UCB
Boulder,
CO
80309-0430
Engineering Center
ECOT 721
email: 
Phone: +1-303-492-6362
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Graduate Program Advisor
Vicki Kunz
University of Colorado at Boulder
Department of Computer Science
430 UCB
Boulder,
CO
80309-0430
Engineering Center
ECOT 720
email:
Phone: +1-303-492-6361
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They'll be glad to help you find answers to any questions you may have.
We hope this has been helpful in your decision making process.
The University of Colorado at Boulder Department of Computer Science
wishes you the best of luck with whatever decision you make!
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