CIS

Types of Degrees CIS Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many computer information systems graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	29,534
Doctor’s Degree	1,068
Graduate Certificate	889

What CIS Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to cis were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for CIS Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Skills for CIS Majors

When studying cis, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Abilities for CIS Majors

As a cis major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

What Can You Do With a CIS Major?

People with a cis degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Computer and Information Research Scientists	19.0%	$118,370
Computer and Information Systems Managers	12.0%	$142,530
Computer Network Architects	6.5%	$109,020
Computer Science Professors	8.1%	$82,220
Computer Systems Analysts	9.1%	$88,740
Database Administrators	11.5%	$90,070
Informatics Nurse Specialists	9.1%	$88,740
Information Security Analysts	28.5%	$98,350
Network and Computer Systems Administrators	6.1%	$82,050
Software Developers, Applications	30.7%	$103,620
Software Developers, Systems Software	11.1%	$110,000
Software Quality Assurance Engineers and Testers	9.3%	$90,270
Telecommunications Engineering Specialists	6.5%	$109,020
Web Administrators	9.3%	$90,270

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in CIS?

This is one of the most frequently chosen graduate majors. It is the 9th most popular in the country with 18,992 students graduating with a master’s in cis in 2021. This major tends to be male dominated. About 66% of recent graduates are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of cis majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	2,719
Black or African American	979
Hispanic or Latino	987
White	4,456
International Students	18,406
Other Races/Ethnicities	1,987

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in CIS, too. About 62.3% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to CIS

Some careers associated with cis require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for cis careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	1.1%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	4.9%
Some College Courses	5.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	10.6%
Bachelor’s Degree	51.3%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	4.4%
Master’s Degree	16.2%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.8%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.6%
Doctoral Degree	4.7%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.2%

Online CIS Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	230	34
Certificate (2-4 Years)	10	1
Associate’s Degree	719	137
Bachelor’s Degree	152	41
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	461	106
Post-Master’s	13	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	120	12
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	3	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to CIS

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to cis.

Major	Number of Grads
Computer Science	72,693
Information Technology	46,791
Information Science	20,202
Computer Software & Applications	14,684
Computer Systems Networking	13,734
Computer Programming	12,983
Computer Systems Analysis	2,864
Other Computer & Information Sciences	2,000
Data Processing	1,927
Data Entry	542

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.