Master's Degrees in Management Information Systems: Career and Salary Facts

<p>A degree in information systems will get you lots of different jobs working for a company doing grunt work. You'll be installing cable, uploading or downloading programs,or installing servers. A master's degree gets you into the boss's door. Working with a MIS allows you to do more than run cords. You can be a network architect designing systems for a company or school. You would be the guy supervising the work of analysts, developers and support specialist. It would be your designs and code they would be following. </p> <p>Master's programs prepare you for executive and management positions, directing and supervising IT professionals and departments. With experience in business or technology vocations, you may find that master's studies provide aggregate education in both fields with an emphasis on managerial responsibilities. As a graduate of a master's program in management information systems (MIS), you may look toward advancing your career and earning a higher salary.The following chart gives you an overview of what you need to know about entering this field. </p> <p /> <table border="1"><tr><td> <b>Degree Required</b> </td><td> Master's degree</td></tr> <tr><td> <b>Key Responsibilities</b> </td><td> Computer and information systems management</td></tr> <tr><td> <b>Licensure/Certification Required</b> </td><td> Licensure required in some areas, certification available</td></tr> <tr><td> <b>Job Outlook (2020-2030)</b></td><td> 11%*</td></tr> <tr><td> <b>Median Salary (2020)</b> </td><td> $151,150*</td></tr> </table><p><i>Source: *U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)</i> </p> <h3 id="section---WhatJobsCanIConsider">What Jobs Can I Consider?</h3> <p>As a graduate of a master's program, you may choose to stay in the technology field as a database architect, systems analyst or software developer. However, with an MIS degree several managerial positions may also be available, such as project manager, security administrator, network architect, chief technology officer and information systems manager. </p> <p>As an IT project manager, you'd work with several departmental employees to set budgetary and scheduling constraints on projects, communicate with vendors and clients to obtain new projects and discuss problems that arise. If you elect to become an information systems manager, some of your tasks could include supervising IT professionals, organizing tasks, creating and implementing goals and policies, scheduling assignments and ordering equipment and software. Executives often provide visionary direction for a company or a specific department, weighing business and technology factors in decision-making processes. </p> <h3 id="section---WhatIsTheJobOutlook">What is the Job Outlook?</h3> <p>According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employment for information systems and technology managers showed a good forecast, with a 11% increase in jobs between 2020-2030 (<i>www.bls.gov</i>). With a master's degree, you'll have the best prospects for this type of job. Specialized certification for specific hardware, software and IT systems will also allow you to demonstrate additional value to a potential company or for an advanced position with your present employer. </p> <h3 id="section---HowMuchCanIMake">How Much Can I Make?</h3> <p>The BLS stated the median salary for computer and information systems managers in 2020 was $151,150 per year. Other information services exchanges reported the highest wages that were higher than the national average for this type of work. <i>www.bls.com</i> indicated IT managers with a master's degree earned an average mean of $161,730 with the highest three states in IT salaries being New York, California and New Jersey. </p> <h3 id="section---WhatAreSomeRelatedAlternativeCareers">What Are Some Related Alternative Careers?</h3> <p>Related careers in the field of computer information will include computer hardware engineers, computer programmers, computer network architects and computer system analysts. All of these positions require employees to work with research and design, networking LANs and WANs, writing and testing code, working systems to communicate with other systems within networks. These jobs need you to start with a bachelor's degree. Other professions that fit the bill as alternatives are data administrators, software developers, information systems analysts and web developers. Many of these jobs are more on the creative side of computers requiring you to analyze, create programs with code and write reports. These are bachelor degree jobs as well.</p>