4 ms·

One crazy stat -- In 2024, 21% of all bachelor's degrees awarded were Computer Science from University of Maryland College Park. It was 3% in 2011. I don't a

One crazy stat -- In 2024, 21% of all bachelor's degrees awarded were Computer Science from University of Maryland College Park. It was 3% in 2011. I don't agree with the article that AI is wrecking job prospects. I see it is as companies are just now trending towards running leaner vs hiring every good engineer available during ZIRP. Nonetheless, it's gotta be tough out there for new grads. https://www.usmd.edu/IRIS/DataJournal/Degrees/?report=Degrees-by-Program-Area-and-Degree-Type https://www.usmd.edu/IRIS/DataJournal/Degrees/?report=Degree...

JumpCrisscross 1y ago
> companies are just now trending towards running leaner vs hiring every good engineer available during ZIRP This sounds more like overproduction of entry-level computer scientists than anything AI or hiring managers are up to.
- mothballed 1y ago
  I suspect it is also universities realizing that (pure) computer science has low demand so they shifted their program to either focus it on more industry-geared education, or dumb-dumbed the grade-inflation (data backs this up) enough the masses had the confidence to do it.
  - JumpCrisscross 1y ago
    > dumb-dumbed the grade-inflation (data backs this up) Source for CS graduates?
    - mothballed 1y ago
      Here's one survey, but the literature is plastered with it https://www.gradeinflation.com/ https://www.gradeinflation.com/
      - JumpCrisscross 1y ago
        That doesn't mention computer science. English departments giving away A's to attract students don't trash the job market for recent CS grads.
        mothballed 1y ago
        Your theory that universities broadly started inflating grades, but miraculously excepted computer science is pretty damn bold one that you've made baselessly.
        JumpCrisscross 1y ago
        > theory that universities broadly started inflating grades, but excepted computer science is pretty damn bold one that you've made baselessly I'm saying that a source from more than a decade ago describing a general trend doesn't explain why recent CS graduates are facing a worse job market than folks five years ago did. Grade inflation, per your source, has been happening for decades across the board. That does not tell us why "since the widespread adoption of generative AI, early-career workers (ages 22-25) in the most AI-exposed occupations have experienced a 13 percent relative decline in employment even after controlling for firm-level shocks" [1]. [1] https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Canaries_BrynjolfssonChandarChen.pdf https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/...
        mothballed 1y ago
        I haven't attempted to explain why new grads are facing a worse market than 10 years ago. I've offered two possible explanations for why more students might move into computer science. A rational actor is going to be more likely to pursue something they think they can actually pass.
        JumpCrisscross 1y ago
        > I've offered two possible explanations for why more students might move into computer science If grade inflation is happening to all degrees, that doesn't explain increased enrollment in CS. (I'm generally curious if part of the explanation is a reduction in CS education quality.)
  - bwfan123 1y ago
    > focus it on more industry-geared education I was told that a student can now get a CS degree without courses in OS, Compilers, Programming Languages, theory of computing etc. The argument being that a vast majority of jobs do not ever use the above. That may have caused a flood of grads with a shaky knowledge of the basics. The idea that software engineering is not really a science but more of a trade for which anyone could be trained without a formal degree has some shades of truth. But in my experience, technology changes so fast that someone with a better grasp of the basics can evolve with the tech since they understand the fundamentals better. LLMs really separate those who can critique and correct its output, and those that blindly follow it, and the former will continue to have jobs.
    - the_snooze 1y ago
      >The argument being that a vast majority of jobs do not ever use the above. Yikes. At that point, it's really not much of a "CS" degree. It's a trade program that teaches you how to use particular programming languages and frameworks. Someone with that background is in a brittle position. They won't be able to pivot as easily to different technologies when things inevitably change. And they'll be ill-equipped to handle interesting open-ended projects where it's up to them to decide what approaches to use, how to bound problems, how to reason through trade-offs, and what lessons to take from prior work.
- treve 1y ago
  Absolutely, and this trend didn't start with the current AI boom. It started getting tough for people around ~2017 (with some exceptions in between). Before that you could likely get a job right out of a boot camp. Supply now has far outweighed demand on the junior level.
  - mothballed 1y ago
    Nothing new. Circa the great recession, most of my fellow grads at a top-5 engineering school could not get jobs. Out of my friends, most of whom had internships, co-ops, and top ~10% of class, it mostly took us 6 months or so to secure a job as all our co-ops/internships cut off hiring before graduation. Many people did stuff like drive forklifts or work at walmart for awhile. Another friend of mine with a dual engineering major summa-cum-laude worked sorting screws in a screw factory, a position normally occupied by people in that town with serious mental handicaps.
  - WillPostForFood 1y ago
    The data in the paper shows a clear negative turning point for junior workers in late 2022.
_aavaa_ 1y ago
I believe you mean 21% of University of Maryland’s bachelor degreees were CS. The current phrasing makes it sound like they’re a diploma mill producing 21% of all bachelor degrees in the country.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
dizlexic 1y ago
100%, I'm shocked how many articles / doom sayers ignore the explosion in CS grads over the last decade. I really believe it's just for the headlines.
- jurking_hoff 1y ago
  [dead]

JumpCrisscross 1y ago

> companies are just now trending towards running leaner vs hiring every good engineer available during ZIRP This sounds more like overproduction of entry-level computer scientists than anything AI or hiring managers are up to.

mothballed 1y ago
I suspect it is also universities realizing that (pure) computer science has low demand so they shifted their program to either focus it on more industry-geared education, or dumb-dumbed the grade-inflation (data backs this up) enough the masses had the confidence to do it.
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago
  > dumb-dumbed the grade-inflation (data backs this up) Source for CS graduates?
  - mothballed 1y ago
    Here's one survey, but the literature is plastered with it https://www.gradeinflation.com/ https://www.gradeinflation.com/
    - JumpCrisscross 1y ago
      That doesn't mention computer science. English departments giving away A's to attract students don't trash the job market for recent CS grads.
      - mothballed 1y ago
        Your theory that universities broadly started inflating grades, but miraculously excepted computer science is pretty damn bold one that you've made baselessly.
        JumpCrisscross 1y ago
        > theory that universities broadly started inflating grades, but excepted computer science is pretty damn bold one that you've made baselessly I'm saying that a source from more than a decade ago describing a general trend doesn't explain why recent CS graduates are facing a worse job market than folks five years ago did. Grade inflation, per your source, has been happening for decades across the board. That does not tell us why "since the widespread adoption of generative AI, early-career workers (ages 22-25) in the most AI-exposed occupations have experienced a 13 percent relative decline in employment even after controlling for firm-level shocks" [1]. [1] https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Canaries_BrynjolfssonChandarChen.pdf https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/...
        mothballed 1y ago
        I haven't attempted to explain why new grads are facing a worse market than 10 years ago. I've offered two possible explanations for why more students might move into computer science. A rational actor is going to be more likely to pursue something they think they can actually pass.
        JumpCrisscross 1y ago
        > I've offered two possible explanations for why more students might move into computer science If grade inflation is happening to all degrees, that doesn't explain increased enrollment in CS. (I'm generally curious if part of the explanation is a reduction in CS education quality.)
- bwfan123 1y ago
  > focus it on more industry-geared education I was told that a student can now get a CS degree without courses in OS, Compilers, Programming Languages, theory of computing etc. The argument being that a vast majority of jobs do not ever use the above. That may have caused a flood of grads with a shaky knowledge of the basics. The idea that software engineering is not really a science but more of a trade for which anyone could be trained without a formal degree has some shades of truth. But in my experience, technology changes so fast that someone with a better grasp of the basics can evolve with the tech since they understand the fundamentals better. LLMs really separate those who can critique and correct its output, and those that blindly follow it, and the former will continue to have jobs.
  - the_snooze 1y ago
    >The argument being that a vast majority of jobs do not ever use the above. Yikes. At that point, it's really not much of a "CS" degree. It's a trade program that teaches you how to use particular programming languages and frameworks. Someone with that background is in a brittle position. They won't be able to pivot as easily to different technologies when things inevitably change. And they'll be ill-equipped to handle interesting open-ended projects where it's up to them to decide what approaches to use, how to bound problems, how to reason through trade-offs, and what lessons to take from prior work.
treve 1y ago
Absolutely, and this trend didn't start with the current AI boom. It started getting tough for people around ~2017 (with some exceptions in between). Before that you could likely get a job right out of a boot camp. Supply now has far outweighed demand on the junior level.
- mothballed 1y ago
  Nothing new. Circa the great recession, most of my fellow grads at a top-5 engineering school could not get jobs. Out of my friends, most of whom had internships, co-ops, and top ~10% of class, it mostly took us 6 months or so to secure a job as all our co-ops/internships cut off hiring before graduation. Many people did stuff like drive forklifts or work at walmart for awhile. Another friend of mine with a dual engineering major summa-cum-laude worked sorting screws in a screw factory, a position normally occupied by people in that town with serious mental handicaps.
- WillPostForFood 1y ago
  The data in the paper shows a clear negative turning point for junior workers in late 2022.

_aavaa_ 1y ago

I believe you mean 21% of University of Maryland’s bachelor degreees were CS. The current phrasing makes it sound like they’re a diploma mill producing 21% of all bachelor degrees in the country.

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

dizlexic 1y ago

100%, I'm shocked how many articles / doom sayers ignore the explosion in CS grads over the last decade. I really believe it's just for the headlines.

jurking_hoff 1y ago
[dead]