Online Computer Science Degrees: Online Degree Programs

Computer Science Degrees

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Salaries For Degrees in Computer Science

Those who majored in Computer Science can be employed in a variety of jobs. While no one can say with certainty what you personally will do with a degree in Computer Science, our survey panel picked the following occupations as likely options:

The median salary for people with a degree in Computer Science is $64,517.81. The lifetime value of this degree is approximately $1,450,326.00.

Salaries are highly dependent on individual negotiating skill, years of related experience, your employer, area, and more. The estimates we show on these pages are just that: estimates. Your individual experience will likely vary.

Where does this come from?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, a unit of the US government, classifies all workers into some 800-odd occupational categories. We paid a army of freelancers to solicit their view on what type of degree a holder of each type of job would likely have majored in. For pairs which had a high degree of consensus, we created a link between the degree and the job.

From this, we calculated the average salary for Computer Science degrees and converted it into a lifetime value. We then compared it against other degrees at the same level of schooling (such as associate's, bachelor's, or master's), so that you can make informed educational and employment decisions.

How To Prepare For A Computer Science Degree

Computer science is one of the most promising professional fields with an ever-increasing prospective for future jobs. As promising as a degree in computer science may seem, there are several things that prospective computer science graduates need to know before pursuing such a degree.

While it is completely possible to decide in college to switch your major to computer science, there are several high school classes that will help prepare for such a degree. What classes are available will depend on your respective high school, but any computer science classes such as computer programming languages are a definite plus. Many schools also offer AP Computer Science, which teaches the basics of Java. Other classes that are good options to take are classes that familiarize you with Microsoft Office products and computer art classes, such as classes that teach Photoshop.

Curriculum For a Computer Science Degree

Computer science is such a broad field that can be divided into many sub-fields including, but not limited to, animations, graphic design, programming, web development, networking, and repair. At some point in college or if you pursue a masters it's likely that you will need to differentiate your sub-field so that you can take the proper associated courses.

For a general computer science degree, however, you will receive a sampling from most of the possible sub-fields. Basic knowledge of networking, computer hardware, computer software, and virus detection and prevention are necessary for just about all computer science degrees. At the very least, you will learn to identify all the particular parts of hardware for a computer and their possible upgrades, the possible network connections and the best way to establish those networks, and about viruses and ways to prevent them. Not all computer science degrees will cover all of these, especially if it is required that you specialize from the start, but many will at least cover the basics in all categories.

For a computer programming degree, there are several languages that are basically necessary for any job. There's a good chance that you may not learn them in college as most colleges only teach a select few of them, but it is possible to take a certification class for any particular language. The most basic programming languages for a computer programming degree are Java, some form of C (C++, C, or C# though C++ is the most common), Visual Basic, and .NET. Most times computer programming and web development go hand in hand, so it's very common in this field to also learn scripting languages such as Java Script, PHP, HTML, and CSS.

A computer science degree also requires a fairly high level of mathematics study. Computer science graduates can expect to take at least one Calculus class (though some colleges may require more than that), discrete mathematics, and an algorithm class. Depending on the college, some other mathematical requirements may be statistics, probability, and algebra.

Also keep in mind that, regardless of the degree, students are required to take general classes. This means that you will also need to take at least one science class, foreign language, humanities or writing, English, and any other degree requirements imposed by your particular college.

Online Schools Offering Accredited Computer Science Degree Programs

BS in Computer Science

Online colleges are a great alternative to campus schools for those with families and jobs that prevent them from getting the most out of a campus degree. Bear in mind that online schools require much more discipline and a well-kept schedule than offline schools. There won't be a teacher around three days a week to remind you when homework is due and studying is left almost entirely up to the student. For this reason, online schools for computer science degrees are a double edged sword. They're great because you get the hands-on computer experience when it comes to programming and design. However, at the same time, when taking complex classes it can sometimes be hard to get help from the professor if you don't understand a concept or if you can't get a program working.

There are a myriad of colleges that offer online computer science degree. These include Colorado Technical University, DeVry University, ITT Technical Institute, Keiser University, Sullivan University, and Berkeley College.

Campus-based Colleges & Universities Offering Computer Science Degrees

Some of the most top-ranked colleges in the nation that offer computer science degrees include Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of California at Berkeley, Cornell University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Campaign, University of Washington, Princeton University, University of Texas at Austin, and Georgia Institute of Technology.

Famous People In the Field

The computer science field is, in part, majorly supported by the idea of networking and knowing the competition. It's a field where you constantly need to be caught up on the latest languages, techniques, advancements, etc. For this reason, many computer scientists who receive their degrees end up taking college classes many times in their lives or attending seminars or classes about certain subjects pertaining to the field.

Included in this is the need to understand who the famous people in the field are and what makes them famous. By knowing this, it's possible to understand why they're famous and what they're doing right, thereby allowing you to learn from them. Tim Berners-Lee. Some handy people to know are the ones who make it possible for you to study computer science itself. In other words, the people who invented the languages and techniques that are used every day in computer science. This includes, but is not limited to, Bert Bos who invented CSS, Wim Ebbinkhuijsen who helped create COBOL, Andrew Koenig who is an authority on C++, Michael Kölling who helped develop BlueJ, Rasmus Lerdorf who created PHP, Jon Postel who helped develop Internet standards, and Dennis Ritchie and Kenneth Thompson who created the operating system Unix.

While these people are handy to know and it's a good idea to read their works, it's also an equally good idea to know of some current names that are well-known in computer science. These include Tim Berners-Lee (pictured right, by Uldis Bojārs) who invented the original World Wide Web, Guy Lewis Steele, Jr. who works for Sun Microsystems and is well known for his work with Java, Sergey Brin and Larry Page who co-founded Google, and Ray Ozzie who is the current chief software architect at Microsoft.

Online Degrees