The Master of Science in Management Information Systems (M.S./M.I.S.) is a comparatively new and an interdisciplinary degree focused on uniting business and technology. The coursework requires students to combine business, strategy, and technical skills that can be directly applied in complex business situations.
MIS offers a valuable experience to students from a variety of undergraduate backgrounds (Bachelors in engineering, science, maths, business or any other analytically oriented degree), to enhance their understanding of technology’s role in business while positioning themselves to stand out in the job market.
The Course work (although varies as per individual university) broadly consists of the following areas.
- Systems analysis and design
- Databases, data mining, data modeling, data warehousing
- Programming Languages, Web technologies, Information Security
- Statistics, Business Mathematics
- Finance, accounting, marketing, management
- Project, Program management
- Operations management, Supply Chain management
In addition to the above-mentioned areas, US universities also offer a wide range of additional elective subjects from which you can pick and choose the subject areas that interest you, thus making the coursework very flexible.
The MIS degree sometimes falls under the business school and sometimes under a technology department like computer science depending on the university. Hence its always better to research well in advance the schools and programs that interest you and the test scores that they accept as that would help in deciding if you need to take the GRE or the GMAT. However the good news is that most US university programs accept both GRE and GMAT.
Careers in the field of management information systems can lead you to a variety of roles in the industry like:
- Business Analyst
- Systems analyst
- Data analyst
- IT Analyst
- Functional Analyst
- Operations Analyst
- Database manager
- Information Security Specialist
- Program Manager
- Software developer
- Project lead
- Applications developer
- Information technology consultant
- Web developer
- Management Consulting
As the world of information technology grows bigger by the day, organizations have a growing need for professionals who understand both business and technology thus resulting in a growing the demand for candidates majoring in this degree.