Gates Goes Back To School

Bill Gates' campaign to recruit college students into the computer-science industry last week took him to six universities well-known for their IT and engineering prowess. IT-related enrollments at most schools are down 50% or more, and Microsoft's chairman and chief software architect hopes personal visits will revive students' flagging interest in IT careers.

So where did he go? The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor; the University of Wisconsin in Madison; Columbia, Princeton, and Howard universities; and the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.

And what inspiring words did he share? According to a blog posted by Kevin Schofield, general manager of strategy and communications at Microsoft Research, who's accompanying Gates on the tour, the Microsoft chief assured University of Michigan students that his company will always do the majority of its software development in the United States. That might do a bit to assuage fears that offshoring will undercut the profitability of computer-science degrees.