Information on Master’s Degree Programs in Database Administration
Majors Overview July 14, 2015This article talks about master’s degree programs in database administration and their education requirements, coursework, job and wage outlook, and continuing education choices.
Master’s Programs in Database Administration
Computer science students and information technology professionals seeking IT management careers can benefit from enrolling in a master’s degree in database administration. Senior-level database administrators can seek careers in numerous industries that call for ways of analyzing and storing information.
Program graduates can seek employment in management-level and advanced IT positions, with a heavy concentration on data storage, data analysis, and relational databases. An MBA in Information Systems program with a concentration in database would also benefit graduate students interested in administration, database management, or design. Full-time students in both master’s degree programs take about two years to complete the programs. Experienced program graduates can seek professional certification.
Education Requirements
Admission criteria typically require incoming students to hold a bachelor’s degree in a related field, such as database administration, computer systems, information technology, or telecommunications. Applicants may also be required to have prior work experience.
Coursework
Program coursework includes topic areas such as database management, operating and networking systems, software engineering methods, and computer system architecture; however, the primary focus is on designing and implementing databases. The curriculum also includes accounting, finance, electronic business, systems management, marketing, and design. Core coursework may cover topic areas such as:
•PL/SQL programming
•Recovery and backup
•Database architecture
•Enterprise architecture
•XML database development
•OLAP
Job and Wage Outlook
Over the 2012 – 2022 decade, a job growth rate of 15% has been predicted for database administrators (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). In 2012, these professionals brought in an average annual wage of $77,080 (BLS).
Continuing Education Choices
Advanced certification options are available to high-level database architects and database administrators for the specific database technologies commonly used by them. The Microsoft Certified Master (MCM) certification is available through Microsoft, and the Sun Certified MySQL Database Administrator (SCMDBA) designation is managed by Oracle. Passage of multiple exams is a requirement for both certifications.
