Return on Your Investment

Choosing a college major is an important decision for any student.  Most Carnegie Mellon Information Systems students enjoy the opportunty to prepare for interesting and lucrative careers as well as the exciting range of novel elective courses, additonal majors and minors, and concentration areas offered at Carnegie Mellon University. 

Work Ready Graduates

From a very practical point of view, CMU IS graduates are 'work ready' and are highly valued in the marketplace.  Whether in consulting, software development, project management, systems analysis or administration, CMU Information Systems graduates are well prepared to enter the workforce.  Leading companies (such as Google, Deloitte & Touche, IBM Global Services, Accenture, Epic Systems, salesforce.com, Johnson & Johnson and Boeing Corporation, to name but a few) continue to hire CMU IS graduates year after year.  With their blend of technical skills, project management experience, business-facing skills and a solid CMU-style foundation, many of our graduates experience fast track opportunities leading to high levels of responsibility and influence.  The IS degree is also great preparation for graduate school programs such as IS Management, Human Computer Interaction, Business Administration, law, international relations, decision sciences and others.

Demand for Graduates Remains High

Prospective students and their families often ask us about anticipated job prospects in Information Systems.  Published studies show that demand for IS/IT professionals remains strong and many positions with premier employers go unfilled.  Many companies report they simply cannot find enough qualified people to fill current and anticipated job openings in the field.  On a national level, Information Technology employment in the U.S. increased by 216,000 jobs between the third quarter of 2007 and the third quarter of 2008.  Overall IT employment in the US in the second quarter of 2008 was up 10% over the same quarter in 2007.  Starting salaries for CMU IS graduates are very competitive, among the highest for CMU graduates, making a favorable return on your investment. 

See Carnegie Mellon Career Center survey of graduating seniors.