With the rise of college-level STEM courses, the number of high school graduates in the U.S. who are enrolled in STEM fields is on track to surpass the number who attended college for the first time in 2019.
The Center for American Progress has released a report that shows that the number is poised to climb from 8.2 million in 2020 to 10.3 million in 2022.
In 2019, the STEM field grew at an annual rate of 3.5%, which is slightly slower than the 5.9% growth the country experienced during the Great Recession.
The number of students taking a STEM course in 2020 is forecast to increase by 6.1% to 7.7 million.
That’s a lot of growth for a field that is not yet well-established.
And as the number continues to grow, more and more employers are adding courses, creating opportunities for more people to take a course.
The STEM field is now the fastest-growing in America, and the report suggests that the growth is even faster in the next few years as students have more time to prepare.
The report also found that more than 70% of U.K. students have taken a STEM class at one point or another in their lives, up from 57% in 2020.