Computer Information Systems is of the hottest master's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #9 most popular major in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
In 2023, College Factual analyzed 217 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Computer Information Systems Master's Degree Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 18,992 master's degrees in computer information systems during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Choosing a Great Computer Information Systems School for Your Master's Degree
Your choice of computer information systems for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality CIS program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Average Earnings
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to computer information systems students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - The number of computer information systems students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How easy is it for computer information systems to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized computer information systems related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for computer information systems students working on their master's degree.
When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Computer Information Systems Master's Degree Schools list to help you make the college decision.
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Featured Computer Information Systems Programs
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Computer Information Systems in the United States
The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in computer information systems. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
University of Pennsylvania is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in computer information systems. Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.
Computer Information Systems master's degree recipients from University of Pennsylvania earn a boost of about $39,428 above the average earnings of computer information systems graduates.
Carnegie Mellon University is a wonderful choice for individuals interested in a master's degree in computer information systems. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Master's recipients from the computer information systems program at Carnegie Mellon University earn $31,900 above the typical graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Every student who is interested in a master's degree in computer information systems needs to look into Johns Hopkins University. Johns Hopkins is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Baltimore.
Those computer information systems students who get their master's degree from Johns Hopkins University make $33,936 more than the average CIS grad.
Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in computer information systems has to check out Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus. Located in the large city of Atlanta, Georgia Tech is a public school with a fairly large student population.
Computer Information Systems master's degree recipients from Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus earn a boost of around $43,895 over the typical income of computer information systems majors.
Located in the city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public university with a very large student population.
Computer Information Systems master's degree recipients from University of Washington - Seattle Campus receive an earnings boost of about $39,275 above the typical earnings of computer information systems majors.
Cornell is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Ithaca.
Master's recipients from the computer information systems degree program at Cornell University get $8,861 more than the typical college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
Located in the city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.
Master's recipients from the computer information systems degree program at Columbia University in the City of New York make $14,508 more than the standard graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Stevens is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Hoboken.
Those computer information systems students who get their master's degree from Stevens Institute of Technology earn $17,770 more than the standard CIS student.
GMU is a very large public university located in the suburb of Fairfax.
Those computer information systems students who get their master's degree from George Mason University receive $24,171 more than the typical CIS student.
Here are some additional great schools for Computer Information Systems students that almost earned our Best Computer Information Systems Master's Degree Schools award.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
college factual
Your choice of computer information systems for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality CIS program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
