students. At each of these Educator's Days (as will be the case at

ABSTRACT A critical issue in optics education is the recruiting of sufficient numbers of stu­ dents/ at both undergraduate and graduate levels/ to meet the growing demand for gradu­ ates. This paper explores the problem and suggests some possible approaches for more effective recruiting. 1. INTRODUCTION As the title of this paper would suggest/ a continuing critical issue in optics educa­ tion is how to recruit students into optics-oriented curricula in sufficient numbers to meet the rapidly growing demand. This is of particular interest when we recognize that many scientists/ engineers/ and educators working in optics admit that they got into the field "almost by accident" (and some would delete the "almost"). While prospective B.S./ M.S. and Ph.D. students are becoming more aware of the attractiveness of optics as a career field/ they may often not be aware of the various educational paths to an optics career and where they can pursue these paths. Thus they may be wondering "Is it physics/ engineering/ or what?"Designated centers such as the University of Rochester's Institute of Optics/ and the University of Arizona's Optical Sciences Center have some clear "visibility" advantages in recruiting by being more easily identified as places where a student can study optics. On the other hand the vast majority of recruiting of students into optics-related pro­ grams will most likely continue to be in traditionally non-optics curricula such as physics/ electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Thus the recruiting problem has many facets and its solution must also have many facets.This paper will deal with some of the things being done to recruit B.S. and M.S./Ph.D. students into optics courses and degree programs but is/ by no means/ an exhaustive treatment of the subject. Rather I hope it will stimulate all of us to greater coopera­ tion in the effort to meet the demand for more graduates with an understanding of optics. Due to the fact that the undergraduate and graduate recruiting problems are different/ I will treat them in separate sections starting with undergraduate (B.S. level) recruit­ ing.