Dive Brief:
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Many of today’s computer science grads receive high starting salaries and multiple employment offers, according to a report from Network World.
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The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) estimates the average salary for graduates with computer science degrees at $61,321 this year, second only to engineering graduates, at $64,891.
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NACE said 2015 computer science grads also have the highest full-time employment rate within six months of graduation.
Dive Insight:
The shortage of tech skills is an issue with real bottom-line impacts as every company, effectively, becomes a technology company. A recent report from Appirio and Wakefield Research found that a shortage of IT talent often prevents businesses from meeting their IT goals.
There are only an estimated 50,000 computer science grads each year, with demand far outpacing supply. The lack of viable talent can often lead to bidding wars, with some companies priced out of hiring necessary tech professionals.
"It is a fierce competition for new graduates," Jason Hayman, market research manager at IT staffing and service provider TEKsystems told Network World. "The huge monoliths out there, like Facebook or Google or LinkedIn, are scooping up, in particular, the developers, programmers and engineers."
Computer Science grads also have one of the highest earning potentials among 319 college majors recently ranked by PayScale.
Hayman and other experts suggest companies find alternative ways of finding, recruiting and retaining tech talent beyond just shopping for recent computer science grads.
A number of tech leaders, including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Amazon Chairmain and CEO Jeff Bezos and Salesforce Chairman and CEO Marc Benioff, have been pushing Congress to improve funding for K-12 computer science education to help spur interest in the area. In April, those executive and many other business, government and education leaders started a petition asking Congress to provide $250 million in funding to school districts in order to give K-12 students an opportunity to learn to code.
Meanwhile, President Obama recently requested $4 billion in funding for states and $100 million for districts to bring computer science programs to every K-12 student in the country.
