1.  1996: venture capitalists started to invest heavily in Internet companies. IT employment exploded, and IT enrollments in universities soared.  2000: rising interest rates and increased investor wariness caused stock prices to collapse. Late in 2000, hundreds of dot com companies failed.  2004: the unemployment rate among IT professionals peaked at 5.5%.  2000-Present: IT enrollments in universities plummet

2.  March 2006: IT employment reached 4.72 million, higher than it was at the peak of the dot com bubble. Unemployment among IT professionals fell to 2.5% (compared to 4.7% for the population as a whole) A strong demand for entry-level IT professionals in April 2006 (source: Monster.com )  2004-2014: Five of the twelve occupations expected to see the fastest growth are IT professionals. (source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)

3. 2006 - Present The number of students in IT programs has not rebounded enough to meet today’s demand.