MBA careers

How To Become An IT Manager

Operators at workstations watching large system displays in a control room

Median pay BLS

$175,140

computer and information systems managers

Typical entry education BLS OOH

Bachelor's degree

5 years or more of related experience

Jobs nationally

670,570

$107,550 to $297,510 across them

Ranked MBAs in this field

19

Information Systems and Technology concentration

The Handbook asks for a computer science or information technology bachelor's degree first, and says some employers require or prefer a graduate degree on top of it. That is the split this job rewards: the technical degree gets you in, and the MBA is what the management tier tends to be recruited with.

What Computer and Information Systems Managers Do

The Occupational Outlook Handbook describes the work this way: “Computer and information systems managers plan, coordinate, and direct computer-related activities in an organization.” That is the occupation BLS surveys for the pay figures on this page, so the job description and the wage belong to the same definition. The Handbook page is the source, read on September 22, 2026.

How To Become An IT Manager

BLS sums the route up in one sentence: “Computer and information systems managers typically need a bachelor's degree in computer science or information technology, plus related work experience, to enter the occupation. Some employers require or prefer that candidates have a graduate degree.”

The Handbook asks for a computer science or information technology bachelor's degree first and adds that some employers require or prefer a graduate degree, so this job wants both halves: the technical credential to get in, and the management one to move up.

What this site can add to that is the price of the degree and what its graduates earned. Across the 19 ranked online MBAs reporting an information systems concentration, whole-program tuition has a median of $40,032, and their graduates' median earnings a year after finishing were $83,829. The BLS median for computer and information systems managers is $175,140, $94,228 above the $80,912 median a year out of these programs, which is the distance experience covers rather than the degree.

What Computer and Information Systems Managers Earn

The May 2025 wage survey reports 670,570 jobs nationally, with these figures:

Computer and Information Systems Managers annual pay by percentile, BLS May 2025
PercentileAnnual payWhat it means
10th$107,550Lowest tenth of the occupation
25th$138,060Lower quarter
Median$175,140Midpoint, half earn more
75th$220,730Upper quarter
90th$297,510Highest tenth

This is the best paid occupation tracked here after chief executive, and the fastest growing at 16 percent, which is the combination that makes the management tier of technology worth the second degree. MBA salaries by occupation sets all thirteen side by side, with what graduates of the ranked programs earned.

Online MBA Programs For IT Managers

An information technology concentration keeps the technical thread going. Business analytics is the alternative for people moving toward the data side of the same organization. Full profiles, prices and sources for each of these are on the concentration page; the score describes the whole MBA, because neither federal earnings nor AACSB tuition is reported for a single concentration.

Highest-ranked online MBAs reporting an information systems concentration
Program Tuition Graduate earnings Rank
University of North Alabama, Alabama $16,830 $83,366 31st
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Wisconsin $26,000 $87,090 55th
Oakland University, Michigan $34,254 $91,379 68th
New Jersey Institute of Technology, New Jersey $40,032 $103,850 76th
University of Maryland, Maryland $94,500 $125,159 116th

All 19 ranked online MBAs in Information Systems and Technology ยท Online MBA in Business Analytics

Common Questions About Becoming An IT Manager

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Other Careers An MBA Leads To

Sources For This IT Manager Page