American Techno-Politics

Shortage of Engineering and IT Graduates???

The tech industry claims that they are desperately short of engineering college grads. This chart says it all - engineering and CS degree production is on the rise.

So what is going down? Enrollments. One would expect the trend depicted to reverse in the near future because of lower enrollments in recent years. The question is why would college students stop pursuing engineering and computer sciences?

Simple. The career is in jeapardy from outsourcing and the insourcing of cheap replacement workers.

In addition to that, the cost of attaining a four year degree is sky-rocketing. The interest rates for subsidized loans are also at record rates - the highest since Carter was President. Starting this fall, rates will jump up to 7%. To give you an idea of how high that is, three years ago I locked in at 2.2% for my graduate degree.

If this government wants to save the IT and Engineering occupations they had better act quick. Their pro-outsourcing and pro-labor-insourcing positions are taking a toll on our occupation. The government acting to make college even less affordable is simply not forgivable. These politicians use education as their battle cry every damned time they are up for election. So why is an education in American too expensive for many people to pursue?

posted by R. Lawson @ 10:35 PM