Frequently Asked Questions:

  • Q: What is CU Online?
  • A: CU Online allows you to take University of Colorado Denver courses. Online. And graduate with a completely accredited UCD degree.
  • Q: How do online courses work?
  • A: Online courses are taught by the same on-campus UCD professors. In essence, letting you attend UCD, anywhere you happen to be.

Welcome!

The Information Systems (IS) program in the Business School has established the University of Colorado Denver (UCD) as a leader and innovator in the field. As part of that innovation, a new Master of Science (MS) program has been developed to keep you one step ahead of your collegiate peers.

If you are interested in receiving specific information on this program, or have any specific questions that a simple FAQ isn’t answering, request your own personalized information packet.

Why this Information Systems program?

This exciting new curriculum is based on national standards that were developed by a joint committee of the Association for Information Systems (AIS) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). In addition to the AIS and ACM committee, the new curriculum has also been strongly influenced by the IS community and has received the endorsement of eight major IS professional groups.

The new MSIS Program offers you the freedom to strategically choose from a wide selection of courses. Concisely put, the program consists of the standard Common Body of Knowledge (CBK) courses, along with 30 credit hours. These hours are designed to include the new MSIS core, an area of specialization, and a ‘free’ elective.

You may transfer up to nine credit hours from an AACSB International-accredited graduate school and applied to the information systems core upon approval. See your advisor for details.

Common Body of Knowledge (CBK)

If you do not have an undergraduate or graduate degree in business, you are required to complete at least 12 credit hours that provide a general business foundation upon which your graduate information systems degree will be built.

Choose four of the following courses:

  • BUSN6520: Managing Individuals and Teams
  • BUSN6530: Data Analysis for Managers
  • BUSN6540: Legal and Ethical Environment of Business
  • *BUSN6550: Analyzing and Interpreting Accounting Information
  • *BUSN6560: Marketing Management
  • BUSN6620: Applied Economics for Managers
  • *BUSN6630: Management of Operations
  • *BUSN6640: Financial Management
  • BUSN6710: Strategic Management
* Courses aimed at students with a limited business background.



Information Systems Core

Get fundamental knowledge necessary for a career as an IS professional.

  • Business Process Management
  • Analysis, Modeling, and Design
  • Data Base Management Systems
  • IT Infrastructure

Choose a Specialization

Besides 12 credit hours from the required MSIS core, you must select an additional 12 credit hours from the following areas of specialization. This will help tailor your degree to complement your interests, prior education and work experiences.

  1. The Enterprise Technology Management (ETM)

  2. Health Information Technology

  3. The Systems Development and Implementation (SDI)

  4. Systems Development and Implementation with Geographic Information Systems

Take a free elective

Get three additional credit hours by completing either:

  • A specialization course
  • An internship

Dual Degree

There’s also a Dual MBA/MSIS degree as well. To earn this dual degree, you must complete the entire 30 credit hours required for the MSIS program along with a total of 36 credit hours from the MBA program.

Who’s teaching it?

Your online courses follow the same course format as the on-campus ones. In fact, your courses are designed and taught by the same professors who teach the ‘traditional’ on-campus courses. As a result of their expert tutelage, the excellent courses themselves, and the skills learned through online delivery, your project management skills will grow and develop, enabling you to meet the challenges of successfully handling highly complex system development projects in the business world.

"What about after I graduate?"

  • A report from CIO.com says that close to 60% of CEOs and CIOs worldwide point to insufficient number of staff as the most common problem experienced in the past 12 months.
  • CNNMoney.com reports on the most lucrative degrees for college grads (October 2007)
  • TechCareers.com says CIOs rank attracting, developing and retaining IT professionals as top worry (October 2007)
  • According to Computerworld, the hottest skills IT executives say they will hire for in 2007 are:
    • Programming/application development
    • Project management
    • IT/business analysis
    • Security
    • Help desk/technical support
  • In another article from Computerworld, the IT worker of 2010 won't be a technology guru but rather a versatilist.
  • NewsFactor.com states that software services and tech services employment were up in 2006 for the third year in a row, increasing by 88,500 jobs and 66,300 jobs, respectively.
    • Technology occupations are projected to grow the fastest for the next 10 years. These job types account for 6 of the 12 fastest growing occupations nationwide. By 2010 a half a million jobs are projected to go unfilled in the US.

© 2006 University of Colorado Regents