MIS

Types of Degrees MIS Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	7,899
Master’s Degree	2,063
Associate Degree	750
Basic Certificate	604
Graduate Certificate	281
Undergraduate Certificate	61
Doctor’s Degree	37

What MIS Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to mis and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for MIS 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Skills for MIS Majors

When studying mis, 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.
• 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.
• Programming - Writing computer programs for various purposes.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for MIS Majors

As you progress with your mis degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• 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.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• 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 MIS Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with mis:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Computer and Information Systems Managers	12.0%	$142,530

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in MIS?

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 9,324 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in management information systems in 2021, making it rank #56 in popularity. This major tends to be male dominated. About 68% of recent graduates are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	1,142
Black or African American	894
Hispanic or Latino	1,061
White	3,798
International Students	408
Other Races/Ethnicities	596

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in MIS, too. About 5.2% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to MIS

Some degrees associated with mis may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to mis have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	0.7%
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)	3.1%
Some College Courses	15.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	5.3%
Bachelor’s Degree	66.2%
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.	1.5%
Master’s Degree	8.0%

Online MIS 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)	44	11
Certificate (2-4 Years)	2	0
Associate’s Degree	99	29
Bachelor’s Degree	82	25
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	135	49
Post-Master’s	12	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	9	3
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to MIS

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

Major	Number of Grads
Business Administration & Management	395,227
Accounting	84,760
Finance & Financial Management	58,013
General Business/Commerce	57,204
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	56,747
Marketing	52,820
Human Resource Management	25,350
Business Support & Assistant Services	16,604
Hospitality Management	14,076
Entrepreneurial Studies	12,707
Real Estate	7,783
International Business	7,505
General Sales & Marketing	5,965
Other Business, Management & Marketing	4,903
Business/Managerial Economics	4,885
Specialized Sales, Merchandising & Marketing	4,322
Construction Management	4,158
Insurance	2,334
Taxation	1,257
Business/Corporate Communications	837
Telecommunications Management	58

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
• Image Credit: By Dzonatas under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.