undergradly.
Major · Computer & Information Sciences

A networking-ops major where Cisco and CompTIA certs do real work

System, Networking, and LAN/WAN Management (CIP 11.1002) trains you to run an organization’s networks, servers, and uptime. About 1,265 students complete it across 68 colleges, with bachelor’s grads earning around $84,407 and associate’s grads around $55,083 in median five-year earnings.

Schools offering
68
Annual completions
1,265
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$69k

About this major

System, Networking, and LAN/WAN Management (CIP 11.1002) prepares you to oversee and regulate the computer systems and network performance of an organization or network of satellite users. Coursework covers performance balancing, redundancy, LAN and WAN management, system migration and upgrading, outage control, problem diagnosis and troubleshooting, and system maintenance and budgeting. Lab time is heavy — students rack and configure switches and routers, set up VLANs and firewalls, design failover and backup, and practice incident response under pressure. Most programs now layer in cloud networking (AWS VPC, Azure virtual networks) and a security track because hiring patterns have shifted that direction.

The major fits students who like making infrastructure work rather than designing software from scratch. Methodical thinking, comfort under outage-pressure, and a tolerance for documentation pay off here. The field rewards people who enjoy reading packet captures, tracing why a route flapped at 2 a.m., or rebuilding a VPN tunnel that vendor support said was fine — and who are willing to stack vendor certifications (CCNA, Network+, Security+, AZ-104) alongside the degree.

A grounded note on scale: 1,265 students complete this CIP across 68 institutions, with Western Governors University awarding 518 bachelor’s degrees alone — an online, competency-based program where students advance by passing real certification exams. The earnings split — $55,083 for associate’s graduates versus $84,407 for bachelor’s — reflects access to higher-tier roles like information security analyst ($124,910 with 28.5% projected growth) and network and computer systems administrator (around $96K), where BLS lists the bachelor’s as the typical entry credential.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
Computer and information systems managers $171k +15.2% Bachelor's degree
Information security analysts $125k +28.5% Bachelor's degree
Computer network support specialists $73k +1.8% Associate's degree
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$69k

Associate's vs Bachelor's — early-career earnings

Associate's

$55k

Bachelor's

$84k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if you enjoy the diagnostic, methodical work of keeping networks and servers running rather than building new software, you’re comfortable with command-line work across Cisco IOS, Linux, and Windows Server, you’re willing to stack vendor certifications (CCNA, Network+, Security+, AZ-104, AWS) alongside the degree because hiring managers in this field treat certs as proof of skill, and the destination roles in the data — information security analyst at $124,910 with 28.5% projected growth, or network and computer systems administrator near $96K — match the technical lane you want to occupy.

Think twice if you’re drawn to pure on-prem networking, since software-defined networking, infrastructure-as-code, and cloud-first architectures are absorbing routine on-prem work — tilt electives toward cloud and security to stay ahead. Reconsider a four-year program for this CIP alone without comparing it against a community-college associate’s plus stacked vendor certifications, since several top producers (Green River College, College of DuPage, MyComputerCareer locations) push graduates into the field through that cheaper path. Reconsider also if your real interest is software engineering or theory — Computer Science (50,272 completions) and Information Technology (20,296) are wider doors into the industry, and CIP 11.1002 is narrower and more operations-focused than either.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for System, Networking, and LAN/WAN Management/Manager

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
Western Governors University Salt Lake City, UT 0 518 518
Texas A&M University-College Station College Station, TX 0 92 92
Green River College Auburn, WA 61 0 61
Dakota State University Madison, SD 17 27 44
MyComputerCareer at Columbus Columbus, OH 44 0 44
University of Cincinnati-Main Campus Cincinnati, OH 0 43 43
MyComputerCareer at Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN 37 0 37
MyComputerCareer at Raleigh Raleigh, NC 31 0 31
College of Southern Nevada Las Vegas, NV 24 0 24
College of DuPage Glen Ellyn, IL 22 0 22
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Computer Science

50,272 completions/yr

Information Technology

20,296 completions/yr

Computer and Information Systems Security/Auditing/Information Assurance

17,632 completions/yr

Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications

3,699 completions/yr

Computer Support Specialist

1,690 completions/yr

Network and System Administration/Administrator

1,663 completions/yr

Computer/Information Technology Services Administration and Management, Other

969 completions/yr

Information Technology Project Management

933 completions/yr

Considering this direction?

We've taken a hard look at the debt, earnings trajectory, and degree-level tradeoffs for the System, Networking, and LAN/WAN Management/Manager field. Read our verdict before you commit.

Is System, Networking, and LAN/WAN Management/Manager worth it? Read verdict
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What do System, Networking, and LAN/WAN Management majors actually study?
Coursework follows the CIP definition: performance balancing, redundancy, LAN and WAN management, system migration and upgrading, outage control, problem diagnosis and troubleshooting, and system maintenance and budgeting. Lab time dominates — students configure routers and switches, build VLANs, set up firewalls, and practice failover and incident response. Many programs now layer in cloud networking (AWS VPC, Azure virtual networks) and software-defined networking alongside traditional on-prem work.
Do I really need the bachelor’s, or are vendor certs enough?
Industry credentialing carries a lot of weight in this field. CompTIA Network+, Cisco CCNA and CCNP, Microsoft AZ-104, AWS Advanced Networking, and vendor specialty certs from Palo Alto, Fortinet, or Juniper are widely accepted as proof of skill. The earnings split is real though — associate’s completers report $55,083 in median five-year earnings versus $84,407 for bachelor’s — so the degree opens higher-tier roles, but many working network admins entered the field through certifications and a helpdesk or NOC role.
What jobs do graduates actually land?
Named destinations include network and computer systems administrators (bachelor’s typical, around $96K and modest projected growth), computer network support specialists ($73,340, associate’s typical), and information security analysts ($124,910 with 28.5% projected growth — the strongest signal in the packet). Computer network architects ($130,390) and computer and information systems managers ($171,200, 15.2% growth) appear in the data but sit mid-career — they require five-plus years of hands-on networking experience, not direct hire from a bachelor’s.
How does this differ from Network and System Administration (CIP 11.1001)?
These two CIPs map to nearly the same job market. CIP 11.1001 (1,663 completions) and CIP 11.1002 (1,265 completions) both feed into the network-admin and security-analyst tracks, with overlapping coursework on LAN/WAN, security, and operations. The 11.1002 program description leans slightly more toward management and budgeting of network infrastructure, while 11.1001 leans toward day-to-day operations. In practice, hiring managers don’t distinguish — they look at certifications, lab experience, and the helpdesk or NOC roles you’ve held.
Is on-prem networking shrinking as cloud takes over?
Yes, partially. Software-defined networking, infrastructure-as-code, AI-assisted troubleshooting, and cloud networking (AWS, Azure, GCP) are reshaping the work — pure on-prem networking is contracting in favor of hybrid and cloud-first architectures. The signal is in the packet: information security analysts grow 28.5% and computer information systems managers grow 15.2%, while support-specialist roles barely move at 1.8%. Students should tilt electives and certifications toward cloud networking (AZ-104, AWS Advanced Networking) and security (Security+, CISSP track) rather than only on-prem switches and routers.
Where are the strongest programs concentrated?
Western Governors University dominates by volume with 518 bachelor’s graduates per year — an online, competency-based program where students often advance by passing certification exams. Texas A&M-College Station (92 bachelor’s) and Dakota State University (44, both levels) anchor the traditional bachelor’s side, while Green River College (61 associate’s), College of Southern Nevada (24), and College of DuPage (22) lead the community-college pathway. Several MyComputerCareer locations (Columbus, Indianapolis, Raleigh) appear as cert-aligned associate’s programs designed to push graduates straight into entry-level network roles.