Technology-based majors at the University of Georgia have seen a sharp increase in undergraduate enrollment over the past decade.
From 2013 to 2018, there has been about a 113 percent increase in computer science majors and about a 59 percent increase in management information systems, according to the UGA Fact Book.
On a national scale, computer science undergraduate enrollees have more than doubled since 2013, according to Natasha Singer’s article in the New York Times.
Marie-Claude Boudreau, the head of the MIS department, felt the same would be true for MIS majors across the country, although UGA has shown a more rapid increase than other universities over the past few years.
“I think that the trend is upward for pretty much all MIS departments across the country,” Boudreau said. “I think at UGA, we are doing particularly well, I think probably our growth has been quite exceptional. I think we have a good reputation, this department ranks really high.”
Both majors have welcomed an increased number of undergraduates into their programs, but there are still almost two times as many computer science majors as there are MIS majors. Why is that?
People like senior Stav Setty believe it’s because MIS isn’t as well known in comparison to computer science. Setty hadn’t even heard of MIS before coming to UGA.
“I didn’t know there was a major that was like the intersection between business and tech,” Setty said. “I think most people you tell them ‘I’m a management information systems major’ and they’re like ‘what the hell is that?’”
Akhil Hazari, a third-year MIS major who made the switch over from computer science, believed that MIS has a much more tedious admissions process, and that’s why there is still quite a big discrepancy between the two majors.
“When getting into MIS, there’s kind of that process of applying through Terry [College of Business] and I think that may be dissuading some students,” Hazari explained. “When you come to UGA you can declare yourself as a CS major without any kind of prerequisites or applications.”
Nonetheless, both majors have seen meteoric rises that most likely go hand-in-hand with the increased reliance on technology in all facets of society. Bourdeau and the students expect the trend to continually grow as the years go by.
Andrew Walsh 