Information Systems Enrollments: Can They Be Increased?

It is almost unbelievable that in this age of technology we are experiencing decreasing worldwide enrollments in Information Systems (IS) programs. Suddenly, within a year or two, enrollments decreased as much as 70-80 percent throughout the world. Industry is begging for more graduates with a business and technical background and is expecting an even greater shortage in the next few years. Despite reports of the outsourcing of technical positions, there is a growing demand for IS graduates. This paper presents an overview of the discussion, resulting from a panel at the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) 2007, of declining enrollments and some suggestions to reverse the trend. Two major themes, marketing and curriculum, emerged.