Computer science has become one of the most popular majors at schools around the county, especially at Haverford College and Swarthmore College, writes Susan Snyder for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

This year, more than 120 students at Swarthmore are either majoring in computer science or double-majoring in computer science and another subject.

That makes computer science the second-most popular major on the college’s campus, just behind economics. This is a major shift from eight years ago, when there were only a dozen graduates of computer science.

Advertisement

The trend is also visible nationwide. Over the last decade, the number of computer science majors at doctoral institutions has more than tripled.

“Everybody feels that they need some computer science knowledge,” said Lisa Meeden, a computer science professor at Swarthmore.

According to Stuart Zweben of the Computing Research Association, computer science opens the door to some of the hottest jobs on the market these days, giving students more options after graduation.

Read more about the surging interest in computer science in the Philadelphia Inquirer by clicking here.