An Alarmist View of Engineering College Enrollment

Abstract

Engineering college enrollment is in some measure a response to the demand for trained people. The forecasting of enrollment may thus be improved if it is based upon trends in the demand for trained people. One way to measure these trends, which does not seem to have been explored, comes from consideration of the membership in technical societies. The trends found in this way are very marked. The over-all rate of growth so indicated is exponential and is about 7 1/2 per cent per year. The indicated growth rate in electrical engineering is much greater than in any of the other major subdivisions of engineering except chemical engineering.