Two national data sets released over the past year point in different directions for computing education in the United States. The Computing Research Association's 2025 Taulbee Survey reports the largest number of computer science bachelor's degrees in its records, while its own count of new majors and the National Student Clearinghouse's enrollment data both show fewer students entering the field. Department chairs, advisors and accreditation coordinators planning for the next several years are working with both signals at once.

Degrees: a record year in the Taulbee Survey

The Taulbee Survey collects data each year from PhD-granting computing units in the United States and Canada, covering computer science, computer engineering and information programs. The 2025 report, based on data gathered during the 2025-26 academic year, counts degrees awarded in 2024-25.

Among a longitudinal group of 83 units that reported complete data from 2020 through 2025, computer science bachelor's degrees reached 32,266, a record for the survey. That was 12.8 percent more than in 2024 and 48.5 percent more than five years earlier. Across all responding units, the survey tallied 41,858 computer science bachelor's degrees, 2,489 in computer engineering and 4,566 in information programs.

Graduate output also stayed high. Computer science master's degrees in the survey's cohort reached 16,001, just below the 2024 peak and 62.5 percent above five years earlier. Computer science doctorates reached a record 1,351, up 16.1 percent from 2024.

New majors: the leading indicator turned down

The same report shows fewer students starting computer science. In the longitudinal cohort, new computer science majors fell 12.9 percent, from 23,712 in 2024 to 20,664 in 2025, though that figure was still 19 percent above 2020. Total computer science bachelor's enrollment in the cohort declined 4.1 percent, from 127,817 to 122,555. CRA describes these enrollment measures as leading indicators and says they point to degree counts leveling off and then declining in coming years.

The survey also tracks who is enrolled. Women made up 24.4 percent of computer science bachelor's enrollment across all respondents, and 25.1 percent of computer science bachelor's degrees. Within the cohort, the number of women enrolled in computer science fell 6 percent in 2025.

Enrollment: the Clearinghouse sees the same direction

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center measures enrollment across nearly all U.S. colleges rather than only research departments, and its recent reports show the decline spreading across sectors. In its spring 2026 report, released June 4, 2026, undergraduate enrollment in computer and information sciences dropped 8.4 percent at four-year institutions, 9.3 percent at primarily associate degree-granting baccalaureate institutions and 11.2 percent at two-year colleges compared with spring 2025. Overall undergraduate enrollment rose 1.3 percent over the same period.

Preliminary fall 2026 figures, released October 29, 2026, show the decline deepening. Undergraduate computer and information sciences enrollment was down 12.4 percent at four-year institutions and 12.3 percent at two-year institutions. Those preliminary numbers reflect data from 46.0 percent of institutions as of September 24, 2026, and the Clearinghouse will publish final fall figures in January 2027.

A Clearinghouse persistence study adds one more data point. Among bachelor's degree starters from fall 2024 in the ten most common majors, computer science had the lowest rate of persistence into a second fall, at 85.0 percent, down 1.3 percentage points from the fall 2022 cohort.

Reading the two data sets together

The figures are consistent once timing is taken into account. Degrees awarded in 2024-25 reflect students who entered during the enrollment surge of the early 2020s. New-major counts and fall enrollment describe students who will graduate later in the decade. For computing education, that means departments may see large graduating classes for a few more years while entering classes shrink.

Several practical considerations follow for programs:

  • Faculty planning: the Taulbee cohort shows assistant professor counts down 6.6 percent, while reporting units anticipate hiring growth of about 11.5 percent at that rank next year.
  • Graduate pipeline: the cohort's 16,001 master's degrees and 1,351 doctorates reflect students admitted several years ago, so graduate output can also lag changes in demand.
  • Definitions: Taulbee counts majors in research departments, while the Clearinghouse counts students by field across all sectors. The two are not interchangeable, and each report explains its coverage.

For computing education, the next updates arrive in January 2027, when the Clearinghouse publishes its final fall 2026 figures, and with the next Taulbee cycle.

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