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Best Value Information Science Master's Degree Schools

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2023 Best Value Information Science Master's Degree Schools

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

112 Colleges
$19,260 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$75,213 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Information Science Master's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 18,325 information science students received their degrees and certificates, making the major the #4 most popular in the country.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which computer science program is right for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Computer Science Degree Search has created its Best Value Information Science Master's Degree Schools ranking. This report analyzed 112 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best value master's degree programs for IS students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Information Science Master’s Degree Schools in the United States

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Information Science Master's Degree Colleges.

Top 15% Best Information Science Master's Degree Schools

#1

Stevenson University

Stevenson, MD

Our 2023 rankings named Stevenson University the best value school in the United States for information science students working on their master’s degree. Located in the rural area of Stevenson, Stevenson is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Stevenson are $8,340 per year.

Read More…

#2

Harding University

Searcy, AR

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Harding University is a great value for information science students working on their master’s degree. Harding is a small private not-for-profit school located in the distant town of Searcy.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Harding are $11,080 a year.

Full Information Science at Harding University Report

#3

Bellevue University

Bellevue, NE

The excellent master’s degree programs at Bellevue University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value information science schools in the United States. Bellevue University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Bellevue.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Bellevue University are $11,730 per year.

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The excellent master’s degree programs at University of Maryland Global Campus helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value information science schools in the United States. UMGC is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Adelphi.

UMGC graduate students pay an average of $12,132 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Information Science at University of Maryland Global Campus Report

#5

Dakota State University

Madison, SD

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Dakota State University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Information Science Master’s Degree Schools list. Dakota State is a small public school located in the distant town of Madison.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Dakota State are $11,931 a year.

Full Information Science at Dakota State University Report

The University of Texas at Austin landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree information science programs. Located in the large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public college with a fairly large student population.

UT Austin graduate students pay an average of $22,944 in tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its great value ranking, UT Austin is in the top 5% of all schools on our Best Information Science Master’s Degree Schools list.

Read full report on Information Science at The University of Texas at Austin

University of Delaware ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Information Science Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the suburb of Newark, UD is a public college with a very large student population.

UD graduate students pay an average of $18,128 in tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its great value ranking, UD is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Information Science Master’s Degree Schools list.

Full Information Science at University of Delaware Report

University of California - Berkeley landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree information science programs. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Berkeley are $29,262 per year.

In addition to its great value ranking, UC Berkeley is in the top 5% of all schools on our Best Information Science Master’s Degree Schools list.

Read full report on Information Science at University of California - Berkeley

University of Nebraska at Omaha ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Information Science Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Omaha, UNOMAHA is a public school with a large student population.

UNOMAHA graduate students pay an average of $16,374 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Information Science at University of Nebraska at Omaha Report

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree information science programs. Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public school with a very large student population.

UIUC graduate students pay an average of $30,862 in tuition and fees each year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, UIUC also did well on our Best Information Science Master’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Information Science at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Report

#11

Stratford University

Fairfax, VA

Stratford University landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree information science programs. Stratford University is a small private for-profit school located in the midsize city of Fairfax.

Stratford University graduate students pay an average of $13,518 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Information Science at Stratford University Report

University of Akron Main Campus landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree information science programs. Located in the city of Akron, University of Akron Main Campus is a public school with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at University of Akron Main Campus are $11,936 per year.

Read More…

#13

DePaul University

Chicago, IL

DePaul University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for information science students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #13 on the list. Located in the city of Chicago, DePaul is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at DePaul are $18,341 a year.

DePaul excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Information Science Master’s Degree Schools list.

Read More…

#13

Norwich University

Northfield, VT

With a ranking of #13, Norwich University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for information science students working on their master’s degree. Norwich is a small private not-for-profit school located in the distant town of Northfield.

Norwich graduate students pay an average of $21,914 in tuition and fees each year.

Norwich also claimed a spot on our Best Information Science Master’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

Read More…

#15

Loyola University Maryland

Baltimore, MD

Loyola University Maryland ranked #15 on this year’s Best Value Information Science Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Baltimore, Loyola Maryland is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

Loyola Maryland graduate students pay an average of $18,600 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

With a ranking of #16, Southern Methodist University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for information science students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Dallas, SMU is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

SMU graduate students pay an average of $35,802 in tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, SMU also is in the top 5% of our Best Information Science Master’s Degree Schools ranking.

Full Information Science at Southern Methodist University Report

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Value Information Science Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
17 Marquette University Milwaukee, WI
18 University of Washington - Seattle Campus Seattle, WA
19 University of Maryland - Baltimore County Baltimore, MD
20 The University of Texas at El Paso El Paso, TX
21 Prairie View A & M University Prairie View, TX
22 Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX

Information Science by Region

View the Best Value Information Science Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

One of 10 majors within the computer science area of study, information science has other similar majors worth exploring.

IS Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General Information Science 18,325

Related Major Annual Graduates
Computer Information Systems 88,434
Computer Science 59,565
Information Technology 40,555
Computer Systems Networking 14,700
Computer Software & Applications 14,336

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 26 schools only.

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to The Opte Project.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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