Is your kid planning to major in computer science? Before they commit, you need to see the data — and it's not what colleges are advertising.

Computer science enrollment exploded 500% from 2008 to 2024. Now it's dropping — down 8.1% since 2025 according to the College Clearinghouse. Meanwhile, engineering is up 7.3% and data analytics has grown by 35,000 students since 2020.

In this episode of College Coffee Talk, Andy and Pearl Lockwood break down:

- Why computer science may be following the gender studies path — impressive-sounding, but economically risky
- Which majors are actually rising right now (and why they track the CS decline almost exactly)
- Why your kid needs to be learning AI regardless of what they major in — and what "learning AI" actually means
- The financial aid negotiation move that got one family $64,000 more from Johns Hopkins
- Why waitlisted students almost never win financial aid appeals — and what "preferential packaging" really means

This is the conversation guidance counselors aren't having with your family. LCP has it every Monday.

**Chapters:**
0:00 — Is computer science the new gender studies?
2:05 — The CS enrollment data: 500% rise, now dropping
4:20 — What's rising instead: engineering and data analytics
5:06 — Why every student needs to learn AI (not what you think)
13:42 — Pearl's perspective: financial aid negotiation
14:25 — The case that worked: $64K more from Hopkins
16:14 — The case that didn't: why waitlisted students lose appeals
17:25 — Preferential packaging explained
18:25 — Tax returns and financial aid appeals

For more information visit: LockwoodCollegePrep.com

#CollegeMajors #ComputerScience #CollegePlanning #LCPCoffeeTalk