Master's · earnings grade

Is a Management Information Systems degree worth it?

Graduates earn a median $90,998 two years after finishing, more than 66% of master's majors. Measured across 152 US programmes by the Department of Education — real graduate pay, not survey answers.

A

The verdict on the money

Yes, on the money — this is one of the best-paying majors at this level in the country.

Median earnings $90,998 2 years after finishing · per graduate
Typical range $66,885–$82,440 middle half of US programmes
Over no degree +$51,478 vs $39,520 high-school median
Graduates a year 2,009 152 programmes

Where a Management Information Systems degree pays best US programmes ranked on their own graduates' median earnings two years out.

#University1 yr out2 yrs out3 yrs outGraduates/yr
1 Columbia University in the City of New York $153,730 $160,605 $167,216 —
2 University of Virginia-Main Campus cost & debt at this university → $139,548 $144,240 not published —
3 University of Oregon cost & debt at this university → $90,629 $117,572 not published —
4 Florida State University cost & debt at this university → not published $104,192 not published 40
5 Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus cost & debt at this university → not published $92,632 $98,201 —
6 Western Governors University cost & debt at this university → $87,608 $90,998 $97,288 672
7 CUNY Bernard M Baruch College $73,893 $86,867 not published —
8 Capella University cost & debt at this university → $89,295 $84,653 $82,691 —
9 University of Alabama at Birmingham cost & debt at this university → $78,497 $84,653 $94,486 47
10 University of Maryland Global Campus not published $83,768 $94,669 —
11 Northern Kentucky University cost & debt at this university → not published $82,440 not published —
12 Webster University cost & debt at this university → not published $80,147 $85,287 —

What this figure does and does not tell you

Two medians are worth separating. $90,998 is what the typical graduate earns — each programme counted in proportion to how many students it graduates. $69,535 is what the typical programme reports, counting a class of twenty the same as a class of two thousand. The weighted figure is higher here, which means the larger programmes in this field are the better-paying ones.

It is the median of what real graduates of this exact major earned, taken from tax records two years after they completed. It is not a starting salary, not an average of job adverts, and not a projection. The median master's major in this dataset reports $52,837, so Management Information Systems sits above the middle by $38,161.

Two years is early in a career. Fields with long training pipelines — medicine, law, research — look weaker at this point than they will at ten, while trades and applied technical fields peak sooner. Read a low figure in a long-pipeline subject as "slow start", not "bad degree".

There is no debt figure here on purpose. The Department of Education publishes earnings by field of study but not borrowing, so nobody can honestly tell you the debt of a specific major. Debt is published per institution — that is where our university cost pages carry it.

Management Information Systems at other levels

Bachelor's — $56,099 (B)

Majors that pay more at this level Closest first — useful if you are still choosing.

Air Transportation — $70,184 Business — $70,876 Civil Engineering — $71,015 Information Science & Studies — $71,255 Genetics — $72,671 Medical Illustration and Informatics — $72,672

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Management Information Systems: the questions people ask

How much do Management Information Systems graduates earn?
The median master's graduate earns $90,998 two years after finishing (weighting each programme by how many students it graduates), across 41 US programmes that publish the figure. One year out it is $70,934.
Is a Management Information Systems degree worth it?
Yes, on the money — this is one of the best-paying majors at this level in the country. The median graduate earns $51,478 a year more than a US worker whose highest qualification is a high-school diploma.
What is the salary range for Management Information Systems?
Half of US programmes report medians between $66,885 and $82,440. Where you study moves this figure more than most applicants expect.
How many people graduate in Management Information Systems each year?
About 2,009 students complete a master's in this field each year across 152 US programmes.
Does this include student debt?
No — and deliberately. The Department of Education publishes earnings by field of study but not debt, so any "debt by major" figure you see elsewhere is an estimate. Debt is published per institution, which is why our university pages carry it and this page does not.
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Classified by the Department of Education as Management Information Systems and Services (CIP 5212). Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings (median earnings of graduates who received federal financial aid, measured 1–3 years after completion). Figures are per major and credential level, pooled across US programmes. Information only, not financial advice.