Over the past 10 years what percentage of undergraduate computer
science degree programs requires a course in operating systems, and how
has that changed over the past decade?  Similarly, what percentage of
undergraduate computer science degree programs require a course in
web-based systems and how has that changed over the past decade? I'd
be interested in year-by-year results for both questions.

You have asked a very detailed question. What I have done is to
conduct a brief survey of Computer Science programs at universities
around the country and their current degree requirements with regards
to operating systems and web-services/networking. This sample can be
pretty well extrapolated toward the general situation of Computer
Science curricula in the United States.

I surveyed the following universities:

Duke University - a private university in North Carolina.
Tennessee Technological University – a state university in Tennessee
California State University, San Jose – a state university in
California
University of California, San Diego – a state university in California
Boston University – a private university in Massachusetts
University of Washington – a state university in Washington State

Duke University offers two Computer Science degree programs; its
Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts programs both require a
course entitled “Introduction to Operating Systems,” but has no
requirements specific to “web based systems,” or even computer
networking. The University offers networking courses only at the
graduate level (which are also available to undergraduates and may be
used to satisfy the BS and BA requirements for CS electives).

Guide to Degree Programs in Computer Science at Duke University
http://www.cs.duke.edu/~dept/degreeprograms97/

Tennessee Technological University’s Computer Science department has
two tracks: Software and Scientific Applications and Information
System Emphasis. Software and Scientific Applications requires a
course on operating systems, but the Information System emphasis has
no such requirement (but a student may take the operating systems
course to fulfill elective CS requirements). Neither has a networking
nor server systems course requirement, though again, a “Computer
Networks” course may be taken to fulfill elective requirements.

Computer Science at Tennessee Technological University
http://www.csc.tntech.edu/

California State University at San Jose offers a fairly streamlined
Computer Science curriculum, with all students required to take a set
of ten CS classes, which includes “Intro to Operating Systems” and may
then choose five additional courses, which must include at least two
courses from two tracks. A course in “Server-Side Web Programming” is
offered as part of the Unix System Administration track.

SJSU B.S. Computer Science Program Requirements
http://www.mathcs.sjsu.edu/department/bscs.html

The University of California at San Diego offers four undergraduate
Computer Science programs: BS, BS with specialization in
Bioinformatics, BS in Computer Engineering, and BA in Computer
Science. The school also offers a 5-year bachelors/masters program. Of
these, only the Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering and the
Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science require the “Principles of
Computer Operating Systems” course, and none require the courses
offered in computer networks and communications software, though these
are upper division courses which may be taken to fulfill technical/CS
elective requirements.

UCSD Computer Science and Engineering
http://www-cse.ucsd.edu/

Boston University’s undergraduate degree requirements for Computer
Science and Computer Science and Mathematics degrees include a lower
division course on “Computer Systems,” which includes fundamental
operating system concepts. No course specifically about networking or
web systems is required.

Boston University Computer Science Department
http://www.cs.bu.edu/ugradprogram/

The University of Washington Computer Science degree program does not
require either Operating Systems or Networking courses, but both are
offered among the options one can take to fulfill the “Outer Core”
requirements. The University’s Computer Engineering program requires
both “Operating Systems” and “Networking”.

University of Washington - Documents for Prospective Undergraduates
http://www.cs.washington.edu/education/prospectiveforms.html

In addition, this paper from 1994, “A Progress Report on Undergraduate
Software Engineering,” out of Carnegie-Mellon University, gives some
interesting historical background on various computer science programs
around the country.

A Progress Report on Undergraduate Software Engineering, 1994
http://www.sei.cmu.edu/pub/documents/94.reports/pdf/tr11.94.pdf

A decade ago, I think it’s safe to say that no universities even
offered a course in web-based systems, much less required it. No doubt
many more offered courses in computer networks and TCP/IP, but then,
as now, likely few required them for graduation. As well, Computer
Science curriculums change surprisingly slowly, and requirements for
Operating Systems courses are likely fairly similar then as now.
Unfortunately, specific data on these requirements over the past ten
years is generally unavailable on the internet (universities like to
keep their current requirements available, but leave older
requirements offline).

jaq,

You did a lot more work than I expected for $4. Thanks.  

I'm not sure how much confidence I can place in your sample.  

To summarize your results:

o Virtually no CS program requires a course in web-based systems.
o We don't know about Operating System requirements 10 years ago.
o Regarding Operating System course requirements now in BS programs:

    Duke: yes
    Tennessee Tech: yes
    CSU-SanJose: yes
    UCSD: no
    BU: no
    UWash: no

So about 50% of BS degree programs in the sample require a course in
operating systems.  (I didn't count the lower division BU course.)

Heh...you are WAY underpriced for that information.  Thats assuming it even exists.

I asked this question because we (Cal State Los Angeles) are revising
our Computer Science BS degree program.  I have been arguing that
Operating Systems should no longer be required.  I claim that
requiring a course in Operating Systems was once justified because the
operating system provided the environment within which programs
executed.  (It was not so important that student knew how to build an
operating system but that they understand the envionrment within which
their program ran.)  But that is less the case these days.  Now,
runtime environments provide much of the execution enivonrment (in a
narrow sense) and the web provides the larger picture of the
environment in which programs execute.  Hence, if any course is
required it should be a web programming course, e.g., something about
the various web standards along with J2EE or .Net.  (Microsoft decided
to develop .Net when it realized that it is this level of services
that provides the framework for future applications.  If they want as
much control over the future of computing as they have had over the
past and present, they need to own the web framework. Their .Net is
their attempt to do so.)

I was glad to see that only 50% of the BS programs in the sample
currently require a course in Operating Systems.  I suspect that the
percentage of programs that require a traditional Operating Systems
course is shrinking.  I was surprised that no programs in the sample
require a course in web programming.  Perhaps we will be the first
one.  We are revising our curriculum to do that.  If approved, the
change will take effect next Fall. (As a political compromise we will
also still require a course in Operating Systems.)