US college computer science enrolment falls by 12.4%
Early figures from the National Student Clearinghouse show fewer students on computer science courses at every level in the United States. Final figures follow in January.
Undergraduate enrolment in computer science at US four-year colleges fell 12.4% this autumn, the National Student Clearinghouse said on 29 October 2026.
The preliminary report from its research centre groups computer and information science together. It found falls of 12.3% at two-year colleges and 10.4% among graduate students. Across all subjects, total enrolment rose 0.2% and undergraduate enrolment rose 0.6%.
What was a relatively small decline last year has really become more, much more pronounced.
The figures cover 7.92 million enrolments reported by 24 September 2026, the Clearinghouse said in its statement. They come from 46.0% of the US colleges and universities that send it data, so they may change. Bloomberg, in a report published by The Star, said undergraduate computer science courses have lost 18.4% of their students over two years. Graduate courses lost 27.1% over the same period.
For students thinking about a computer science degree, Higher Ed Dive reported a related figure from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It put unemployment among recent computer science graduates at 7% in 2024. Bloomberg said the preliminary data do not include information on international students. The final report, due in January 2027, will include it.
Neither the report nor the Clearinghouse's statement gives a reason for the fall. Matthew Holsapple, the centre's senior director of research, told Bloomberg: "Those are just remarkable declines for a field that until recently was one of the fastest growing areas that we’d seen in higher education." It is not yet known whether the final figures will show the same size of fall.
Sources
- National Student Clearinghouse Research Center Preliminary Fall Enrollment Trends
- National Student Clearinghouse Total Higher Ed Enrollment Holds Steady in Preliminary Fall Enrollment Trends Report
- Higher Ed Dive, via Yahoo News Undergraduate enrollment inched up this fall, while master's dips 3.7%
- Bloomberg, via The Star Computer science degree programmes lose students as AI replaces jobs