The best online masters degrees in management information systems are often designed for professionals and offer the convenience of studying when the time is best for you.
New technologies radically transform the way our organizations work. And while much of the hype around new technology is often around the “building” and adoption stages, anyone who has worked for any amount of time knows that simply getting a new technology is only part of the battle.
There’s technology that works well and then there’s technology that works well for you. And when the time of workers, outcomes of deals, or livelihood of corporations are on the line, you need to make sure your information systems work for you to the max.
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That’s where the management of information systems comes in. While information technology and computer engineering focus on the building of better technologies, information systems focuses on how to build better human/computer systems.
This means attaching new technologies to key organizational metrics, tracking the result of information system changes, and keeping an eye on the “big picture” of how information systems blend into an organizational landscape.
While management information systems is a relatively new academic discipline, it’s quickly jumped to the top of many organizations’ wish lists for new candidates. There may be a shortage of skilled tech workers. But there’s an even greater shortage of skilled tech workers who can also make key business and management decisions.
What’s more, as important applications of technology have multiplied, so too has the need for information systems professionals with knowledge of one sub-discipline within information systems. This has led to the proliferation of masters-level academic programs that allow students to focus on one concentration area. Common concentrations within master’s in management information systems programs include:
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- Management Information Systems (generalist track)
- Information Security and Management
- Business Intelligence and Data Analytics
- Software Development
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- Project Management
- Logistics Information Systems
With degree concentrations such as those listed above, motivated management information systems professionals can work in a wide range of roles. Common roles occupied by management information systems graduates include:
Chief Information Officer- Project Manager
- Product Owner
- Information Security Manager
- Systems Analyst
- Systems Specialist
- Logistics Manager
- And more.
For this year, we were able to survey more masters in management information systems than any year prior. In narrowing down our selections, we employed a multivariate ranking system that can be broken down into the following categories.
Methodology for Ranking
- Program financial score (33.3%): the percentage of students whose financial need was met, the robustness of the financial aid department and offerings.
- Academic Support Measures (33.3%): including student-to-faculty ratios, average graduation rates, and time-until graduation.
- Academic Quality (33.3%): presence of high profile research opportunities and designations such as the NSA center of academic excellence designation for cybersecurity.
Costs for schools shown below are from the National Center for Education Statistics average Tuition and Fees, choosing in-state and graduate options when available. In some cases, tuition and fees information were reasearched from College Data with the same options chosen. No schools are ever given preference over any others in this or any other ranking by OnlineCollegePlan.
Florida State University offers a fully online Master of Science in Management Information Systems degree that places highly in our ranking due to the quality of instruction as well as adult-student suited program design. This program may be completed in as little as two years just taking two courses at a time. Curricula is interdisciplinary, lending faculty from Florida State University’s top-ranked engineering and business schools. Unlike some other programs in our ranking, there are no specialization tracks within this program. This means that students get to choose from a wide range of electives and tailor their course of study exactly as they wish to support personal and career goals.
The highly-regarded college of engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan Dearborn offers one of the more technical online masters programs in this year’s ranking. The Master of Science in Information Systems and Technology emphasizes both business principles as well as technical topics and provides a wide range of specializations. Current specializations within the program include web information management, information security and quality, supply chain and information system design, information systems engineering, and information management applications.
Carnegie Mellon University’s Online Master of Science in Information Technology technically isn’t an online masters program in management information systems. However, with a wide range of world-class coursework related to situating information technology within business objectives, many of the same program outcomes can be expected. We chose this program not only for its world-class student support and faculty but the range of options suitable for adult learners as well. Students may choose between four concentrations within the program: information technology management, business intelligence and data analytics, software design and analytics, and information assurance and security.
Concordia University-Wisconsin offers a unique online masters program within our ranking, an MBA in management information systems. Among other choices in our ranking, students seeking additional coursework in the management and business sides of information systems should be particularly pleased with this program. In addition to being offered online, satellite campuses across the state of Wisconsin are available for students who would like to take some (or all) of their courses in person. At 39 credit hours, the length of the program is slightly different from most MS in management information systems. Although students should rejoice that this program also steps students through a series of technical certifications related to Oracle technologies.
George Washington University offers a particularly unique online masters degree in their Master of Professional Studies in Cybersecurity Strategy and Information Management degree. This degree program hones skills related to information technology, homeland security, cybersecurity, as well as technical skills within one fast-paced 36-credit program that can be completed in as little as 16 months. Among additional offerings of the program is the university’s deep alumni network among some of the largest government agencies out there. Even for students online, George Washington can be a great way to find your next job in the Beltway.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – perhaps the most well-known university related to aviation and aerospace – provides their own unique take on the online masters programs with their Master of Science in Management Information Systems degree. We liked this degree program due to the university’s reputation as a technological university as well as the range of adult learner support services throughout the program. Students in the program may choose from two specializations including a business intelligence and analytics track as well as an IT management track. Both tracks are available fully online or at a variety of Embry-Riddle campuses. Additionally, both specializations are available in a part-time or full-time basis.
The University of Arizona offers an online masters program in MIS that is accelerated and may be finished in as little as 10 months. There is one prerequisite course required and that is Fundamentals of Object-Oriented programming. The program is divided into two main parts: core course and electives. The master’s project is considered to be one of the core courses. Your core courses include software design and integration, business foundations of IT, information security in public and private sectors, and enterprise data management among others. For a high quality and high-value online MIS, Arizona is a fantastic choice.
We’ve chosen Bellevue University’s fully online masters program, the Master of Science in Management Information Systems, due to the range of adult learning-friendly learning options, the quality of the program, and the degree of customization that students may employ. Students within the program may elect to pursue any form of delivery method throughout their degree including in-person and online.
The Master of Information Systems degree offered by Wright State University is a fully online masters degree program. It places in this year’s ranking due to the quality of support measures for adult learners as well as unique program features.
Management information systems degrees are versatile, multidisciplinary degrees that blend business, management, and technical courses. This selection of topics helps to prepare students for a range of positions that need some technical know-how but that also need the ever-so-important understanding that technology only works when aligned with organizational objectives. While an information technology or computer science degree may be more likely to gain you a job “making” new technology, management information systems employ the technology throughout an organization. They are also in charge of ensuring that technology projects make a meaningful impact within an organization.
Information Technology Project Manager
An MS in Management Information Systems degree is a professional masters of science degree. Professional masters are different from research masters in that they tend to focus on applied learning that students can immediately take into the workplace. In research master’s, students are often preparing for a doctorate within the same subject, and are often required to complete a thesis (and sometimes teach courses). Oftentimes professional master’s are more career-centered and can be completed even more quickly.
Cybersecurity
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. Generally speaking, many employers value STEM program graduates, or simply graduates with STEM skills for their versatility and ability to problem solve.
Skilled management information systems workers including data analysts, project managers, cybersecurity analysts, and more, are tasked with not only knowing the technical underpinnings of a set of technology products but seeing how they fit into the broader equation of personal and organizational use.
The job of information systems professionals is to ensure that this myriad of systems performs as expected. Furthermore, the job of information systems professionals is to make sure that information systems are progressing to solve not only problems we know we have but those we haven’t even realized we have yet.
Information technology and management information systems are disciplines that may work on the same problems but from very different vantage points. While information technology degrees are focused on questions related to how technology works (and how to fix it), management information systems degrees are interested in questions related to how businesses and people work with technology.
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