Alex Davis said the recent national decline in students enrolled in his major is a good thing.

"It just means less people to compete for jobs with," Davis (sophomore-computer science) said.

The decline in undergraduate computer science majors, which Davis sees as beneficial to his career pursuits, is part of a recent trend that the Computing Research Association (CRA) shed light on in survey information released this month. Full results of the survey will be released in May.

The number of computer science majors fell 18 percent nationally from 2005 to 2006, continuing the 7-year trend. The results also showed that the number of students enrolled in fall 2007 is half of what it was in fall 2000.

The CRA's Taulbee Survey, which includes Penn State, gathers undergraduate enrollment statistics from doctorate-granting computer science departments around the nation.

Penn State's numbers are in line with the overall survey. University Park computer science enrollments, which were at their height this decade in 2002 with 305 students, have fallen this academic year to 159 students -- almost half -- Penn State spokesman Geoff Rushton wrote in an e-mail.

Despite the flagging numbers, Jack Rayman, Penn State director of Career Services, said the demand for computer science majors in the job market is strong.

"There is not enough of them to go around," Rayman said.

Jesse Barlow, Penn State professor of computer science and engineering, said he has noticed the trend in his own classes.

"I'm teaching right now a core class that every computer science major has to take. There are two sections with a total of 60 people," Barlow said. "It used to be much more than that."

Davis said compared to his other classes, there were not as many students in his computer science classes.

Barlow said a possible factor for the decline is the current negative perception of the job market.

"There were times when it was almost an automatic ticket to get a good job," he said. "But it's not as good as it was in other years."

Rayman cited the demanding curriculum as a reason for the falling enrollments.

"In the whole IT area there's a strong demand, and I think that a lot of American students just don't want to work that hard," he said.

Rayman also said outsourcing is a possible factor.

"There was a lower demand about five years ago. The perception was that a lot of things were being outsourced," Rayman said. "It's all a part of market fluctuation."

Barlow said he doesn't think outsourcing should scare people away from the major because there is a lot of work that can only be done locally.

According to the survey, a drop-off in the degree production has happened before. There was a strong degree production during the late 1980s, with more than 42,000 degrees awarded nationwide.

That number was almost cut in half during the 1990's, during several years with about 25,000 degrees awarded. The survey results also suggest that the decline was predictable because of the economic downturn and slow job growth of the early 2000s.