If you’re thinking about going to college for engineering, you’re certainly not alone.
According to an article posted on USNews.com, science and engineering degrees in the United States grew last year at a rate twice as fast as any other field.
The author writes that from 2009 to 2013, science and engineering degrees grew by 19 percent, compared to a 9 percent growth among other disciplines, this according to numbers from produced by the National Student Clearinghouse.
“In some cases it might be institutional initiatives, in some cases it might be different kinds of policy levers, but I think the growth has been such that it’s not just a coincidence,” Lead Researcher Jason DeWitt told reporters. “I think students have been responding to the call for more STEM students.”
Included in the study, the author writes, are the fields of earth, atmospheric and ocean sciences, physical sciences, mathematics and computer science, engineering, and biological and agricultural sciences. Social sciences and psychology were also included, the article mentioned, because those disciplines fall under the National Science Foundation’s classification of science.
The article goes on to say that by the year 2020, nearly all new job postings will require some form of higher education, and about engineering and science positions will have grown by about 25%. Some numbers even suggest that by that time, there will be a much greater number of jobs than students qualified to fill them.
Researchers say current growth patterns are unprecedented in recent history, according to the author. In fact, the growth in degrees over the last 5 years averaged out to about 4.5%, whereas the average annual growth over the previous 30 years was only 2.4%.
The article also goes on to discuss age and gender trends within science and engineering students, but overall, Dewitt calls this a period of “accelerated growth.” So if you’re thinking about getting into engineering, now’s the time to do it.
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