CS Degrees are Worth More… Again.
I’m not a computer science major, but I’m very familiar with the programmer market: it’s stronger than ever. After the dot-com bust and the huge off-shore-it-to-India scare, there was a wide-spread decline in interest in the computer science degree. And with that, a general pessimism about the long term viability of the programming career. But ultimately, programming is a form of engineering, and it was inevitable that its wages came back up.
Average starting salaries for CS graduates is at its highest levels since the dot-com bubble: $53,051. This only makes sense since there has been a rapid decline in the graduate pool, elevating the demand. Of course, this will probably wane again in the coming years as this current bubble deflates (a sudden, overnight crash is less likely this time) and college freshmen start piling into the major again.
Nevertheless, if you like programming: stick with it. It may be a little turbulent, but as an entry level job it will always pay more than any other non-engineering job (until you enter middle or upper management). Technology is fickle because it is constantly becoming out-dated; you should be prepared to face a career full of rapidly changing standards, including your pay check.
