WASHINGTON — The hottest subject on college campuses across the nation right now seems to be renewable energy — a surge of interest driven largely by the specter of global warming.

Concern about climate change is galvanizing more students to turn toward a subject involving science and engineering, educators suggest, much as Moscow's launching of the Sputnik space satellite jolted baby boomers to turn their eyes to the stars.

Over the past year, college and university leaders say they have seen a surge of enthusiasm among undergraduates for studying energy sources that don't contribute to global pollution.

What remains uncertain is whether enthusiasm for the science and technology of renewable energy sources will carry over into graduate school, swelling the ranks of Americans with advanced degrees in such subjects.

"We have a shortfall of people to do cutting-edge research and do the innovations we need," said Vijay Dhir, dean of the engineering school at UCLA. But, he added, "the potential is there."

The rising interest in renewable energy is so new that it's not clearly reflected in the latest enrollment figures, educators say. But leaders from a range of schools across the country — including Arizona State University, Indiana University, the University of Colorado and UCLA — all say energy and sustainability are the hottest topic for their students.

President Obama is mounting a multibillion-dollar push to boost so-called "clean energy," in hopes of creating millions of U.S. jobs. The effort includes stepped-up support for graduate research in the area. At the White House, Obama told a group of academics and energy entrepreneurs that "innovators like you are creating the jobs that will foster our recovery — and creating the technologies that will power our long-term prosperity."