Computer science professor at a major state university just finished the worst faculty meeting in 32 years of academia
Department head dropped the placement statistics like a bomb at 2:47 PM on a Wednesday
2023: 89% placement rate within 6 months of graduation
2024: 67% placement rate
2025: 34% placement rate
2026 projections: 12% placement rate
312 CS majors graduating this spring. Industry contacts saying maybe 40 will find work.
The dean wants to know why enrollment is still climbing while job prospects crater
Faculty sitting there like deer in headlights because what the fuck do you tell 19-year-olds taking out $40k per year in loans
Half the curriculum is already obsolete. Teaching data structures while companies replace entire engineering teams with Claude and Cursor.
One professor suggested pivoting to "AI collaboration skills" and got laughed out of the room
Another said we should warn students. Department head said that would "damage program reputation and university revenue"
So they keep taking tuition money from kids who will graduate into a wasteland
Career services still posts those bullshit salary averages from 2022 when new grads were getting $140k offers
Now the same companies are hiring 2 senior engineers with AI tools instead of 12 junior developers
Every CS professor knows their students are walking into a meat grinder
But the university needs those enrollment numbers to hit budget targets
They're literally selling degrees that lead to DoorDash driving