From this article on career opportunities at the CACM:

According to a recent study conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the average salary for this year's crop of computer science grads stands at $61,112. And while it's too early to say for sure, some industry watchers predict an influx of students who might otherwise have majored in finance. Harsha, for example, cites David E. Shaw, a computer scientist turned hedge fund manager who made a fortune in quantitative trading, then returned to scientific research: "He's a model for a certain group." There is also a coolness factor among a generation of students who grew up with computers and are deeply engaged with technologies like cellphones, Facebook and other social media, and the latest electronic devices from Apple and other hardware companies. "For every popular trend in computing there's a spike in interest," says Harsha, citing a similar boom-and-bust cycle that happened with the rise of the personal computer during the mid-1980s. Also, Harsha says, students may finally have realized that the stereotype of computing as a lonely career in which you sit in a cube and write code is not true.

Also in that issue, and article by our very own Dr. Duncan Buell on why we should support high school computer science teachers in the US. All 10 of them.