Earning a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the School of Informatics and Computing can lead to a lucrative career. The stats prove it.
Based on a survey of SoIC graduates who earned an MS in Computer Science during the 2014-15 school year, 100 percent of those responding had secured either employment (94 percent) or committed to further education (six percent) within six months of graduation. Those graduates landed at various spots around the country, finding employment in California, Indiana, Illinois, Washington, Missouri, and Virginia among other places. In total, CS master’s graduates accepted full-time positions in 16 states and India.
The starting salary for the graduates was impressive as well.
Based on the information provided by the former students, the average starting salary for master’s graduates in CS was $85,500, and the average signing bonus was $12,200. Companies that hired graduates for full-time work included high-profile names such as Amazon, Cigital, Cisco, General Motors, Intel, SAP, Symantec, and Yelp.
The hiring survey returned great news for other areas as well.
Students who received a master’s in Human-Computer Interaction Design also enjoyed a 100 percent success rate with 93 percent of respondents accepting employment and seven percent committing to further education. The average starting salary for former students with an MS in HCI/d was $76,800 with an average of a $5,400 signing bonus.
Students who earned a Ph.D. during the 2014-15 school year enjoyed a stellar success rate as well. Of the 20 graduates in Cheminformatics, Complex Systems, Computer Science, Health Informatics, Informatics, Information Science, Music Informatics, and Security Informatics, 100 percent secured employment within six months of graduation and reported an average starting salary of $92,000 with an average signing bonus of $38,300.
Ph.D. graduates landed at such companies and organizations as Facebook, IBM, MIT, the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Philips Research, the University of Cal Santa Barbara, and the University of Cincinnati among others.
Students who earned a master’s in Information Science or the dual master’s degree in Information Science and Library Science averaged a starting salary of $62,600, and 95 percent were employed within six months of graduation. Those focusing on just a master’s in Information Science averaged $67,100 in starting salary, while students with an MLS or MLS dual degree averaged a starting salary of $46,100, with 96 percent securing employment or continuing education within six months of graduation.
Undergraduates also thrived. A full 96 percent of Informatics graduates either secured employment (88 percent) or committed to further education (eight percent) within six months of graduation, and they accepted full-time positions in 22 states, Washington D.C., and South Korea. Their average reported starting salary was $56,900 with an average signing bonus of $4,600.
The overwhelming majority of computer science students who earned a bachelor’s degree found success in the six months after graduation as well. Among students who graduated with either a BS or BA in Computer Science, 93 percent secured employment or continued their education within six months of commencement. Eighty percent accepted employment, and 13 percent continued to pursue an education. The average starting salary for a graduate with a BS in CS was $67,500, and former students with a BA in CS averaged $59,900 as a starting salary.
“It was another successful year for SoIC graduates,” said director of career services Kate Caldwell. “The success rates are higher than they have been in at least the past four years, and the average starting salaries are, in many cases, higher than the national averages. The interest from employers in recruiting SoIC students only continues to grow.”
Completing an internship was key to a graduate’s success. Eighty-two percent of Informatics undergrads completed an internship prior to graduation, and 73 percent of CS grads completed an internship.
In total, SoIC awarded 407 bachelor’s degrees, 270 master’s degrees and 22 Ph.D.s during the 2014-15 school year, and 380 companies hired students for full-time jobs or internships during the school year. Companies conducted 1,546 on-campus interviews last year.
For more information on the Class of 2015 hiring report, visit our website.