Computer science curricula for the coming decade

Interest in Computer Science has fluctuated dramatically in the past 20 years. Many factors have been cited for these enrollment dynamics, including changes in the high-tech economy and the general image of computing. In this talk, we begin by examining some of the factors affecting enrollments in CS, analyzing both historical and current trends. In light of this analysis, we then turn our attention to curricular issues, first examining significant changes made in Stanford University's undergraduate CS program, which aim to expand the scope of education in computer science and highlight the diversity of options available in the field. We discuss the results of these changes -- a tripling in the number of CS majors in the past five years -- and analyze some of the reasons why. We then look at CS curriculum development more broadly, discussing the recently released ACM/IEEE-CS Computer Science Curricula 2013 (CS2013) guidelines. CS2013 seeks to provide concrete curricular guidance for the coming decade for undergraduate CS programs by redefining the knowledge areas in CS, rethinking the essentials necessary for a CS curriculum, and identifying working exemplars of courses and curricula.