WhatIs.com

Top IT certifications and degrees to help you advance your career

By Kevin Ferguson

As in most professions, nothing beats experience in the information technology (IT) industry -- except experience and the educational credentials to back it up. Those IT credentials come in two forms: certifications and degrees. How are they different and which is best for you? Read on.

A combination of a bachelor's or master's degree in computer science and several certifications is the best solution in most cases. The combination leads to a better starting salary and allows for greater career advancement and growth. A certificate program can provide specific technical knowledge about a particular program that many employers deem essential. In fact, most employers require applicants to have multiple certificates.

Isn't sheer experience in a specific area good enough? Of course, but proving your bona fides in an application form can be tricky. A stamp of approval from a recognized university or trade group makes you a more attractive candidate.

What is the difference between a degree and certification?

Degrees take longer to complete and cost more money to attain than certificates but provide a more well-rounded education and broader perspective on IT and science industries.

As an example, the course catalog at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, provides a clear example. It offers two undergraduate degrees and one certificate in computer science.

To earn a Bachelor of Arts degree (BA) in computer science, candidates must complete 48 to 49 credits from 15 courses. These include eight required computer science courses (e.g., Introduction to Java, Applied Discrete Mathematics, and The Structure of Higher-Level Languages); three required mathematics courses (e.g., Probability and Statistics); one capstone course, one applied computer science elective, one theoretical elective, and one additional elective from either the applied or theoretical list.

To earn a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in computer science, you must complete a minimum of 73 credits from 23 courses. These include 12 required computer science courses (including Social Issues and Ethics in Computing and Introduction to Software Engineering), four mathematics courses, four physics courses, one science elective, and two computer science electives (e.g., biology and chemistry).

To earn a certificate in computer science at University of Massachusetts, you must complete at least 24 credits from seven courses including five required math and computer science courses, one computer science elective, and one application elective.

Information technology (IT) vs. computer science

The two areas overlap but remain distinct. Take Northeastern University, Seattle, for example. It distinguishes computer science as focusing on the skills needed to build complex systems from the ground up, while IT works to configure those systems to solve business problems. Of course, IT specialists are found well beyond the realm of business, but the point is that IT doesn't exist without computer science. Whereas a computer scientist writes codes for programs, an IT specialist adapts those programs to the needs of the users.

Because of the business bent to IT degrees, some schools package some of the softer sciences, such as applied ethics, with more nuts and bolts courses, such as database development. Concordia University, St. Paul, Minn., for example, requires completion of classes in Business-Driven Information Systems and Security as well as Applied Accounting and Finance. Computer Science classes at Concordia St. Paul include Object Oriented Programming in Java, Server-Side Development, and Computer Architecture and Operating Systems.

Top IT certifications

Some of IT's most valuable certifications for career development today include:

Top IT and computer science degrees

Most schools offer great menus of options when it comes to pursuing IT and computer science degrees. After choosing their specific degree, students also have a wide variety of concentrations from which to choose as they create their educational roadmap.

Among the top degrees (both at the bachelor's and master's levels) are:

Among the top concentrations are:

Online degrees

In part because of COVID-19, some certifications are available only online. Even before the pandemic broke, however, there has been an explosion in online training from accredited degree-granting institutions.

30 Oct 2020

All Rights Reserved, Copyright 1999 - 2024, TechTarget | Read our Privacy Statement