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National Association of Colleges and Employers says the following are the top ten "in demand" occupations at the 4-year degree level:

Accounting
Electrical engineering
Mechanical engineering
Business administration/management
Economics/finance
Computer science
Computer engineering
Marketing/marketing management
Chemical engineering
Information sciences and systems

Source: National Association of Colleges and Employers, Job Outlook 2005.

22% of employers expect to hire international students, with most of those hires to be in electrical or mechanical engineering, and computer science.

The results of the survey sound encouraging. However, only 12% of the survey respondents where in the western U.S. which means the results could be heavily skewed by leaving out hard hit tech employers in the West. I am also surprised that nursing does not appear in the list, considering that healthcare accounts for nearly all of the top ten job openings in my western U.S. state.

The more I have looked in to this survey, the more suspicious I have become - here are the results from their 2003 survey:
Top 10 Bachelor's Degrees in Demand
1. Accounting
2. Business Administration/Management
3. Electrical Engineering
4. Mechanical Engineering
5. Economics/Finance
6. Computer Science
7. Information Science & Systems
8. Marketing/Marketing Management
9. Management Information Systems
10. Computer Engineering
Source: Job Outlook 2003, National Association of Colleges and Employers

From 2002:

• Electrical engineering
• Computer science
• Accounting
• Business administration/management
• Mechanical engineering
• Economics/finance
• Management information systems
• Information science & systems
• Marketing/marketing management
• Computer engineering

From 2001 (partial list, full list not available)

• Public accounting
• Financial services
• Computer science/engineering
• Manufacturing
• Consulting services
• Merchandising
  

By now you are probably seeing the trend - its pretty much the same list, every year.

In my state, Washington, the State is currently estimating the following as "Top Ten Hot Jobs":
1. Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants
2. Security guards
3. Medical secretaries
4. Registered nurses
5. Physicians and surgeons
6. Dental assistants
7. Home health aides
8. Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists
9. LPN/LVN nurses.
10. Medical assistants

I do not have time to pursue this more deeply, but I am now suspicious of the NACE survey.
[Edward Mitchell: Common Sense Technology]
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