Computer science is an increasingly popular major, with more and more enrollments every year. There are a variety of reasons causing this widespread popularity of computer science, one of them being the steadily growing job market for people with a computer science degree. Computer science is widely used in many fields, such as engineering, healthcare, education and research. Computer science is also a very well-paid field in comparison to other common career clusters.
The role of computer science in the modern world grows every year, as the use of software in our daily lives grows. Everything from the maintenance of computer systems and the phones we rely on to the applications we install depends on software engineers and computer programmers. The recent surge in artificial intelligence is also causing more interest in computer science as an academic path. Computer science is growing, with a 26% projected growth rate over the next nine years — much more than the average career growth rate — according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Additionally, computer science is also spread out across thousands of different fields, each one pertaining to different specializations and applications. As a result, the field as a whole can never go in complete decline, as each division in the broad cluster that is computer science is almost completely independent. Many of these jobs in the computer science cluster pertain to places that are rapidly-emerging (such as artificial intelligence), or are predicted to be more in demand in the future.
Another reason for the high rise of computer science is the pay; computer science is on the official list of the top 25 highest-paying occupations, which may explain why many are attracted to it. The median annual salary for computer scientists is $145,080, double the average U.S. wage of $59,384. The highest reported median wage in computer science, according to the BLS, is in software publishing, with $233,110. In contrast, the lowest reported computer science median wage is universities and professional schools, with a median wage of $82,360.
Attaining a computer science degree also opens up pathways to many different careers. A computer sciencedegree “provides you with the foundation and skills needed to succeed in any field,” according to Yale University. A typical entry-level degree for computer science is a bachelor’s degree, making it more accessible than advanced business management positions and medical jobs. As the world progresses, computer science will become a skill essential for almost all professions.
