Why this woman dropped out of Temple’s computer science program

What. You can't just make a claim like that without justification. In 5 minutes of search, I found a "sample course sheet," for a Junior CS major, where the fall semester recommends "CIS 3238 Software Design [1]. One syllabus[2] is available from a professor's website[3], and includes this project description:

The goal of the project phase of this course is for students to gain experience in contributing to an open source project. The nature of the contribution may be to contribute an enhancement or to fix an open problem. Students may work alone or in a team of up-to 3 students. While project work will be concentrated to the last half of the course, you need to select the project early and join the developer’s mailing list.

If you are a computer science major and are not writing code, there should be some explanation. A journalist should try to find answers to those questions.

[1] http://www.temple.edu/cis/undergraduate/undergradcs/CS_BS.ht...

[2] http://www.cis.temple.edu/~wolfgang/CIS%203238%20Software%20...

[3] http://www.cis.temple.edu/~wolfgang/

This is not really any better, just different types of required courses.

At my alma mater, Auburn, the Software Engineering major is actually more rigorous than the Computer Science major. You have to take Cal 1-3, Engineering Physics 1 and 2, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations and Engineering Mechanics [0]. Basically, a lot of the engineering foundations that are shared with other, more physical engineering disciplines.

Computer Science, by comparison, only requires Cal 1 and 2 and Linear Algebra. You can also take an easier core science requirement (like Geology) and, generally, have more freedom to choose electives. [1]

I've thought for awhile now that there needs to be a new major that crosses disciplines between engineering and liberal arts. You need to have some of the math and programming foundations to be a good developer that can move beyond simple entry-level type foundations. But a lot of what I struggle with now is "soft skills": design, user experience, copy writing, documentation, etc. Almost like a blending of computer science and fine arts.

I would love to see someone address this need, because in the modern world where real everyday people use our software (not just scientists and engineers), the latter is just as important as the former.

[0] http://bulletin.auburn.edu/undergraduate/samuelginncollegeof...

[1] http://bulletin.auburn.edu/undergraduate/samuelginncollegeof...

What it tells me is that the journalist is using rhetoric to persuade you into thinking that the computer science program is badly designed, failing to serve poor students like Becca.

This writer's only sources for information about the computer science curriculum appear to be Becca and Dr. Justin Yi, the department chair. Your quote is from Yi, who follows up with this paragraph:

That’s because, he said, these types of academic programs were created to cater to an elite few. They weren’t tailored for the masses. As technology has started to touch every part of our lives, university programs haven’t caught up.

In other words, the program is designed to teach a smart, highly-motivated person how computers work and how to use them, which definitely includes programming and in no way precludes "becoming a developer".

edit: ps, where are the press hits in this article? http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html

Regardless, the issue isn't to pick your path exactly before you go. The point is to be prepared to dedicate some marginal effort to it either at the beginning or before.

You really think it's on the schools to tell students what they should learn or what degree they should get? Certainly people have different amounts of support going into it, but we can't just keep pushing the age of personal responsibility further and further out. To absolve underprivileged young adults of these key steps in life is not only harmful to their personal development, but I'd argue personally insulting to their potential as independent adults.