Popularity of Chemical Engineering?

drusba
Fri, 23 Mar 2007 09:13:57 +0000

Not sure where you are getting your info. This is from Engineering Trends 2006 annual report on enrollments:

"First-year and total full-time engineering enrollments, including computer science both within and “outside” of the engineering colleges surveyed, are declining. This report is directed toward the individual engineering disciplines. Nine disciplines were selected for study: aerospace, “biological” (bioeng and biomedical), chemical, civil, “computer” (computer engineering and computer science both within and “outside” the engineering colleges surveyed), electrical, industrial, materials and mechanical engineering. Total full-time enrollments were used to assess historical and current trends; first-year enrollments provided an insight to trends in the near future.

"Aerospace engineering full-time enrollments have been increasing slowly, but recent first-year enrollments have been constant. “Biological” engineering full-time enrollments have been increasing substantially as have first-year enrollments. The first-year enrollment growth rate for fall 2005 was significantly less than the past trend. Chemical engineering full-time enrollments have been constant for the past few years; first-year enrollments, however, have increased slowly in recent years. Civil engineering continues to grow in both first-year and total full-time enrollments. First-year and full-time enrollments in mechanical engineering have been growing significantly since the mid-1990s. However, first-year enrollments declined slightly in fall 2005.

"Both industrial and materials engineering have experienced essentially constant total full-time enrollments for about two decades. First-year enrollments for these two disciplines have been essentially constant as well for almost a decade.

“Computer engineering has undergone substantial declines in both first-year and total full-time enrollments since fall 2001. These declines are expected to continue. Electrical engineering first-year and total full-time enrollments have been declining since fall 2001 and fall 2002, respectively. The rate of decline of first-year enrollments has increased annually. Full-time enrollment declines are expected to continue.”

I would not consider a “slow” increase in freshman enrollment but constant in overall enrollment in Chem E as a risk toward overpopulating the field. Perhaps, there has been a somewhat higher increase that will be reflected in this year’s report but I doubt there will be anything like a comp sci spike.