If there’s a positive side to the economic downturn, it’s that enrollment numbers for computer science students are up for the first time in six years — and there’s a good chance this trend will affect your institution.

The average number of new computer science majors rose 9.5% over last year, says a recent study by the Computing Research Association (CRA). And that’s the first time those numbers have increased since the “dot com” era (1995-2001).

To put it into perspective, students graduating with computer science degrees in 2008 were the fewest in number in the past decade.

What’s drawing students back to computer science? “It appears if you graduate with a CS degree, you’ll get a job,” says Peter Harsha, government affairs director at CRA.

Your institution may feel this  impact,  so you may want to take a good, hard look at your program.

Are you seeing an increase in the number of computer science majors? Let us know in the comments section below.

Tags: computer science, Enrollment, Tech News