An Analysis of Enrollment Cycling in Chemical Engineering

摘要

In contrast to the intuitively accepted view, data indicate that enrollment swings in chemical engineering do not correlate with fluctuations in the economy.  An alternate mechanism to explain the enrollment swings is hypothesized and modeled.  The simulation mimics the behavior of national data and data from thirty individual schools and provides circumstantial support for the mechanism.  The mechanism suggests that chemical engineering enrollment cycling is due to students' reaction to enrollment cycling and that there are cures.