| Computer Science and Software Engineering |  |
Computer science has topped the list of hot courses at Canterbury University as hundreds of students are lured by the prospect of lucrative jobs and overseas opportunities.
Mathematics, statistics, psychology, and management science are other top choices for first-year students, according to the university?s latest enrolment statistics.
Computer science department head Tim Bell said some past graduates had gone to Britain, earned vast sums for their relatively little experience, and made their fortunes. They had returned to New Zealand, in their late 20s, with enough money to last a lifetime. "But generally people tend to me more conservative and head overseas after a year or so working here," Dr Bell said.
In New Zealand, the average starting wage for a third-year computer graduate is $38,020 for men and $37,914 for women.
Dr Bell said the university had difficulty getting students to stay for post-graduate studies because they were snapped up by a hungry job market. "It's a good problem to have. Some stay on for another year because a four-year degree gives them a lot more choice," he said. "They can choose what city they are going to work in and what kind of outfit they work for."
A total of 1795 new students have signed up for computer studies this year. This compares with 1522 for maths, 803 for statistics, 714 for psychology, and 687 for management science. Two newcomers, Antarctic studies and mass communications, were in hot demand as well as drama and "green" geography options of environmental change and sustainability.
On the downside, the number of new students enrolling for arts, commerce and sciences such as chemistry, physics, and natural sciences, has dropped. However, pro-vice-chancellor of resources, Professor Phil Butler, said none of the departments in the science faculty were in danger, unlike Victoria University. There the science faculty is facing a $5 million deficit and cutting staff, as the university stops subsidising science from more prosperous faculties.
Professor Butler said costs and fluctuations in the job market were now key factors in enrolment choices. "It is very clear that the students themselves are very worried at the cost of university study," he said. "Both existing students and prospective students are more aware than ever before of the cost of loans." Canterbury science dean Kelvin Duncan said students were enrolling in the minimum number of courses, because they had to pay for extra "interest" subjects. "What might well happen is the same number of chemistry graduates will go through but the people who may have taken chemistry out of interest, the stage one "samplers", have diminished," Dr Duncan said.
Lincoln University has seen strong growth in commerce and management, recreation management, resource studies and post-graduate diplomas. Demand for viticultural and landscape architecture courses has tailed off.