Why is the MIS major getting so popular?

The number of students majoring in Management Information Systems (MIS) has grown exponentially over the past few years. The major was unranked in 2012 but leapt to ninth position in 2018 on the list of most popular majors, according to the UGA Fact Book. 

The MIS major first appeared on the list in 2013 at number 28 with 318 undergraduate students in the program and it remained at 28 through 2015. In 2016,  MIS experienced a burst in popularity when it jumped to number 12 with 540 undergraduates.  

MIS Department Head, Marie-Claude Boudreau, said that as a whole, the nation followed the same trend experienced at UGA. Boudreau said that in the early 2000s, MIS departments suffered low enrollment all over the country because of the “internet bust” and fear that computer related jobs would be outsourced. 

“At that point there was not enough demand, so that called for higher salaries for the few graduates that we had, and then that had the virtuous circle in terms of attracting more students,” said Boudreau. 

UGA student and MIS major Jessy Eldell said that he feels the increased number of students majoring in MIS is in direct response to the growing need for protection from cybersecurity threats as well as business demand from companies like the PWC and Ernst & Young. Eldell also said that this increase has to do with society’s dependence on IoTs like smart houses and smartphones.

“You see this increase in, like, consumer demand for these types of products, as a result businesses have an increased demand for people in that field leading to people that want a job wanting to move into those fields and learn,” said Eldell. 

According to the College Majors Handbook, nine out of 10 students graduating with an MIS bachelor’s degree are responsible for activities involving computer applications, programming and systems development. The most popular job for bachelor’s graduates being Computer Systems Analysis. 

The Handbook also said that the outlook for MIS graduates is very good. Between the years of 2008 and 2018, the book estimated employment of computer systems analysts, computer software engineers and network and computer systems administrators to increase much faster than the average for all occupations.

As for the upcoming years, UGA MIS major Kate Coriell says that she thinks enrollment in MIS will “continue increasing, especially if the departments continue to grow, and eventually I think it’ll hit a point where it kind of plateaus a little bit, but for the foreseeable future I just see it increasing a good bit.”