A Gusher for Oil Grads
February 21, 2008
Oil companies recognized nearly a decade ago that they were confronting a potential work-force crisis as petroleum-engineering programs deflated across the nation. Enrollment cratered to 1,387 students nationwide in 1990 from a high of 11,014 students in 1983, according to data collected by Lloyd Heinze, a professor of petroleum engineering at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. For the next 14 years, enrollment remained under 2,000.