Does a computer science degree matter anymore?

Some argue that computer science is crucial to U.S. competitiveness, others say business skills are more relevant today

By Carolyn Duffy Marsan, Network World
March 30, 2009 12:03 AM ET

. What's this?

The number of college students pursuing computer science degrees at U.S. universities rose in 2008 for the first time in six years, according to a just released study. Academia and policymakers are hailing the news, but the question facing CIOs and others in charge of IT hiring is: How much do computer science degrees matter?

Read what are the 10 top tech skills
Computer science grads still in demand
IT job search: An expert guide

Do companies need employees with the deep technical skills developed through computer science and software engineering degrees, or are they better off hiring tech-smart business majors.

Not surprisingly, computer science educators, software companies and hardware manufacturers are adamant about the need for computer science majors to drive innovation at U.S. tech companies. The dearth of U.S. computer science graduates is forcing companies to look offshore for qualified people, they argue.

Related Content

"Not having enough computer science majors has serious repercussions for our competitiveness," says Professor Cary Laxer, head of computer science and software engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. "There are a large number of Chinese students and Indian students who are very, very interested in doing this work. We're going to lose our competitive edge as a country if we don't turn out more software engineers."

A computer science degree: helpful but not necessary
Computer science vs.business degrees: getting the best of both worlds
When a computer science degree matters, and when it doesn't

But CIOs and IT staffing firms say the skills they need most are collaboration, problem solving and communications – all of which can be developed by any motivated college student. After all, today's tech-savvy Millennials have wireless and social media technologies integrated into their lifestyles and grasp how to exploit them far better than their 40-something bosses.

"Computer science degrees mattered a lot 20 or 15 years ago, when IT was a cost center. But the job of being in IT has completely changed. The huge IT budgets are not even under CIOs; they're under the lines of business," says David Foote, CEO of Foote Partners, which conducts a quarterly survey of IT skills and pay. "This has brought in a whole new group of IT skills that come out of mathematics, economics, business and marketing."

Computer Science enrollments are increasing

On March 17, The Computing Research Association issued its annual report on the number of college students pursuing computer science bachelor's degrees at U.S. universities. The numbers have shown a sharp decline throughout the decade.

In the fall of 2000, there were around 16,000 newly declared computer science majors. That figure dropped by half after the dot-com bust, bottoming out at 8,000 for the last two years. But in 2008, there was an 8.1% increase. (See how computer science major is cool again.)

Having enough computer science and software engineering majors is critical for U.S. tech companies, who say they need to hire undergraduates with deep technical skills and practical programming experience.