The price of crude oil has plummeted below $50 a barrel, and while there are varying opinions and analyses on whether the downturn will be short slump or a long slog, students in Oklahoma who are enrolled in engineering disciplines are starting to worry that low oil prices could affect their future job prospects.
Students in petroleum, chemical and mechanical engineering disciplines at both the University of Oklahoma and the University of Tulsa are among those expressing concern, The Journal Record‘s D. Ray Tuttle reports:
Petroleum engineering students at the University of Tulsa normally receive job offers in the fall prior to their graduation in May, said Williams Endowed Chair Professor Mohan Kelkar, chairman of the petroleum engineering department. “Many of our students have received offers, so they are not panicking,” Kelkar said. However, about 20 percent of the TU students are without offers.
Currently, enrollment in oil-related disciplines at both TU and OU remain steady, Tuttle reports, but Larry Grillot, dean of the University of Oklahoma Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy, says it’s likely too early to tell if low crude prices have had a measurable impact on enrollment numbers.
“Students that have another year or two before they graduate are asking questions, but we are not good at knowing the situation down the road,” Grillot said. “We have no real way to provide any accurate prediction whether this is a six-month or six-year phenomenon.”
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