Looking for a Master’s degree abroad other than an MBA? While there are many options like MiM, MFin, MS Business Analytics, etc., Management Information Systems (MIS) is also an excellent option in terms of jobs and ROI. According to Forbes, MIS ranks 6th on their list for best Master’s Degrees for jobs, with an early career salary of $75,000. They further reported that 100% of MIS graduates had secured employment within six months of their graduation. In this post, we will look at what is MIS, Jobs & Salaries after MS MIS, how it stacks against MBA, and the best universities for MS MIS in USA, Australia, Asia, Europe, and Canada.
Eligibility, Costs, Ideal Candidates, Jobs, Salaries, and Top Universities
Co-authored by Milind Singh
What is MIS?
Management Information Systems (MIS) is the study of people, technology, and organizations, and the relationships among them. MIS is a people-oriented field with an emphasis on service through technology.
It revolves around the use of technology to manage huge volumes of business-relevant information to assist in strategic decision-making or to improve a company’s operation. It also serves as a useful tool that assists in analyzing market trends. This can help companies predict what’s in store for the future and thus plan efficiently to improve productivity and profitability.
MIS is the application of computer-related technology to managerial programs. With a Master of Science (MS) in MIS, you will acquire foundational business knowledge with courses focused on Information Systems.
MIS students learn how businesses use the information to improve the company’s operations. Students also learn how to manage various information systems so that they best serve the needs of managers, staff, and customers.
MIS students learn how to create systems for finding and storing data and they learn about computer databases, networks, computer security, and lots more.
MIS is more than just writing codes or programming
Many people think that MIS is all programming. While coding concepts represent some of the fundamental principles of information systems development, implementation, and use, many jobs in MIS do not utilize coding at all. A large portion of the MIS degree focuses on data analysis, teamwork, leadership, project management, customer service, and underlying business theories. These aspects of the degree are what set the MIS professional apart from a computer science specialist.
MIS Course Curriculum
While the curriculum may vary, the following courses are common to most universities:
- System Analysis and Design
- Database Management
- Enterprise architecture
- Information Security and Compliance
- E-Commerce and Internet-based Applications
- Data Warehousing
- Business Process Design
- Business Intelligence Applications
- Information Systems Strategy and Governance
- Project Management
Related Programs
- MEM (MS in Engineering Management)
- MIM (MS in Information Management)
- MSIS (MS in Information Systems)
- MSTM (MS in Technology Management)
- MSEM (MS in Engineering Management)
Why pursue MS MIS?
The development of new information retrieval methods, as well as the improvement of existing ones, is currently one of the hottest frontiers in the field of information science.
Business strategy is becoming more dependent on technology. Having an understanding of how technology can assist business strategy goals can help move your career forward into a managerial role. For instance, many executive-level positions, like Chief Information Officer or Chief Technology Officer, require individuals to have a technical background. An MS MIS degree can also help equip you for more technology-driven positions, like IT security manager.
The MS in Management Information Systems can help prepare students for these roles by offering classes that bring together technical skills and analytical business thinking. Students can participate in business intelligence courses that can strengthen their foundation in knowledge discovery and application of business knowledge.
Additionally, the emphasis will prepare students for increasingly compliance and security-intensive environments due to the heavy integration of IT with key financial and accounting processes. With a concentration in IT management, students can participate in leadership classes that study the facets of an effective leader – and apply them in the workplace.
Who should pursue a Masters Degree in MIS?
MIS is an interdisciplinary field. However, historically most student bodies have been found to be comprised of Computer Science and Business majors.
An ideal MIS graduate should understand the needs of a business, what are the problems, what needs to be solved, does information exist or need to be acquired, what needs to get integrated by the nerd, behind the computer, aka the programmer, and finally how to implement the development.
Folks who don’t have extensive work experience & budget (basically not ideal for MBA) and don’t have too much coding or programming experience or don’t want to play too much with codes, Stats, and Mathematical modeling (so not going for MS Analytics or MS Data Science), but want to pursue management or consulting kind of roles within the technology domain – MS Management Information System (MIS) could be a great option for them.
Related Article: MS Data Science vs MS Machine Learning / AI vs MS Analytics – how to choose the right program?
MBA vs MIS
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Related Articles:
MBA vs MS Analytics vs MS Data Science
Job Prospects and Salaries after MS MIS
Typical job profiles for MS MIS graduates include Business Analyst, Business Application Developer, IT Consultant, Systems Analyst, IT Development Project Leader, Database Administrator, Business Intelligence Analyst, Systems Developer, Database Analyst, Web Developer, Network Administrator, Technical Support Specialist, Information Systems Manager, IT User Liaison and so on.
Considering that MIS degrees are usually classified as STEM degrees, international students shouldn’t worry about exclusion from these statistics as this classification allows for the longest possible OPT status post-graduation.
Although the average salaries are around USD $60,000, MIS graduates from top universities can earn around USD $80,000 annually. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) places the median salary of Computer and Information Systems Managers at $139,220.
Between 2016 and 2026 (in the US alone), job growth is pegged at 12% for Computer and Information Systems Managers, which is faster than average and expected to open 44,200 new jobs over this period. Management Analysts have an expected growth of 14% which translates to 115,200 new job opportunities. And, Information Security Analysts which have a 2017 median salary of $95,510 have a 28% expected job growth.
Salaries of MS MIS Graduates in India
For freshers holding an MS degree from foreign universities, the average salaries would be in the range of INR 2.5 – 4.8 Lakhs. For the folks with 2 – 5 years of work experience, the average salaries range between INR 8 Lakhs to 11 Lakhs. Those who have got more than 5 years of experience, can earn INR 11 – 21 Lakhs annually.
Related Article: Jobs and Salaries after Masters (MS) in Business Analytics
Top Universities for Masters (MS) in MIS
Top Universities for MIS in USA
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- Carnegie Mellon University
- University of Texas at Austin
- University of Minnesota Twin Cities
- University of Arizona
- Arizona State University
- Texas A&M University
- University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
- University of Maryland – College Park
- University of Cincinnati
- University of Utah
- University of Illinois at Chicago
- University of Washington
- Georgia Tech
- Colorado State University
- UT Dallas
- University of Michigan
- Pennsylvania State University
- Georgia State University
- UC Berkeley
- SUNY Buffalo
- Indiana University Bloomington
- Oklahoma State University
- Syracuse University
- Texas Tech
- University of Pittsburgh
- New York University
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Top Universities for MIS in Australia
- University of Melbourne
- Monash University
- University of New South Wales
- The University of Sydney
- Curtin University
- University of Queensland
- University
- Macquarie University
- The Australian National University (ANU)
- University of Technology Sydney
- La Trobe University
Asia
- Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
- Fudan University
- Tsinghua University
Europe
- LSE – London School of Economics and Political Science (UK)
- Warwick Business School (UK)
- HEC Lausanne (Switzerland)
- Trinity College Dublin (Ireland)
- Copenhagen Business School (Denmark)
- Maastricht University (Netherlands)
- University of Mannheim (Germany)
- Uppsala University (Sweden)
- ESSEC Business School (France)
- Grenoble Ecole de Management (France)
Canada
- McMaster University
- University of Toronto
- University of Western Ontario
- University of Calgary
- University of Alberta
- Queen’s University
- University of Ottawa