IT Education Trends

When it comes to information technology training in the U.S., smaller and nontraditional education institutions are gaining at the expense of traditional colleges and universities. Non-U.S. institutions are also gaining.



This week I attended an event where I heard a keynote speech by Harris Miller, President of the Information Technology Association of America. He offered telling information about shifting roles:

• Community colleges are growing their market share. They are becoming more creative in partnering with business and provide practical training at lower cost. Apparently 2-year associate degrees in IT are a growing trend.





• Proprietary training schools such as DeVry and online universities such as the University of Phoenix now focus on IT training. They continue to grow.





• Traditional 4-year and graduate colleges and universities in the United States have seen a drop in IT program enrollment. The root causes: a precipitous drop in foreign student enrollment and growing market share by the upstarts and smaller institutions.





• Big winners are traditional colleges and universities in India and China. These countries are investing in their workforce education. Their schools are perceived as being as good as or better than U.S. institutions. Homeland security concerns, too, make it harder for foreign students to get U.S. visas.

Michael Standaert over at the Online Universities Weblog has some startling statistics. Check out the declines in enrollment in U.S. graduate schools.