salary for master degrees in computer science??? (college, living)

[Bubchub68]

Between $80k - $90k for software development

[DORAEMON4ever]

Originally Posted by ATXer

I have a Masters degree in CS with about 9-10 years of experience in the industry. I make in the range of $105-$110k depending on bonuses etc. I agree with some of the posters here; IT is a field where you can work your way through with the most basic education and still make a lot of $$$. However, larger companies do base promotions/raises depending on your creds. I have seen people hitting a roadblock after scaling up a few positions due to lack of an advanced degree.

With 5 years of experience and a foreign degree, I'd say he'd make around $75-$85k.

Hope that helps.

Thanks a lot! One more question if you don't mind: are foreign degrees preferred? Or did I misunderstand your statement?

[DORAEMON4ever]

Originally Posted by rickc007

What AtXer said

Depends also on what his experience is in.

And a Master Degree gets you past HR a lot easier in the hiring process.

rickc007, I see that the field of experience is the most important factors for this career. It has been very insightful!

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

I disagree. I have been in the software business in Austin since 1984. The single most important part of getting a software job and getting paid well is the experience you have. That doesn't mean a degree doesn't matter. Computer science degrees are valuable. But someone who has written software in the area you need with proven success will be more productive than someone with more education but less experience or less relevant experience.

Software professionals arrogant about their education are just that - arrogant. And probably not the ones doing the hiring.

Well put. The thing with CS degrees is that if you got one 10 years ago, it's out-of-date now. My husband has a CS degree from UT - nearly 20 years ago. It's useless now. None of the languages and such he learned in school are used now. If he were to look for a new job now, he would be hired on experience and what he actually DOES every day, not his degree.

[ATXer]

Originally Posted by DORAEMON4ever

Thanks a lot! One more question if you don't mind: are foreign degrees preferred? Or did I misunderstand your statement?

Sorry, my bad. I didn't put it right. Based on my personal experience, an American degree is preferred over foreign degrees; mostly because it is much harder to verify foreign university accreditation and scoring methods. IMHO, the US still has the best university system in the world.

[Tycho Brahe]

Originally Posted by ATXer

IMHO, the US still has the best university system in the world.

IMHO, the contrary is true: US universities are basically diploma mills. Our top universities are truly world class. However, once you get past the top schools, the American university system is not a match for the basic European university system. School is just different out there. Not everyone goes to college, only the top students do. The curriculum is not liberal arts where you study a major and a bunch of other classes in between, you just study your major.

I would easily hire a European (especially German) engineering student before an American if the only differential was schooling.

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by DORAEMON4ever

Thanks a lot! One more question if you don't mind: are foreign degrees preferred? Or did I misunderstand your statement?

Foreign degrees are generally not preferred. I think most of this is just die to the fact that the person hiring has not idea (usually) what earning a degree in another country entails, what is actually studied, how many credit hours are required, or how it compares to a degree from a US university. Does that make sense? If the degree is from a US school (even one the person doing the hiring may not be familiar with) will have certain universal requirements.

But I also don't think it would hurt, really. If a degree is required for the job, most people will just look at the fact that you have one, check it off the list, and then move on to your experience, which is really what's most important, especially since everyone you are competing with probably has a degree as well.

[Jink]

Agreed on the bit about not having a degree and make major $$$... but you have to have a degree in most cases to get your foot in the door. I've got a very talented friend from Michigan who's pretty deft in a lot of programming languages, yet he can't find a job because a lot of the employers are asking for a Master's degree, etc. Go on craigslist and look at the Comp. Sci. -related job offers.

[hal2814]

Originally Posted by mm57553

Well put. The thing with CS degrees is that if you got one 10 years ago, it's out-of-date now. My husband has a CS degree from UT - nearly 20 years ago. It's useless now. None of the languages and such he learned in school are used now. If he were to look for a new job now, he would be hired on experience and what he actually DOES every day, not his degree.

I graduated from the University of Georgia with a CS degree just a few years after that and Georgia is considerably further down the totem pole as far as Computer Science is concerned. I'm surprised your husband finds his degree to be of no use now considering how much I value what I learned getting my CS degree. The algorithms and data structures haven't changed. We just use different languages to build them. O(n) is still better than O(n^2) except for in very limited circumstances.

Granted, many of the jobs I've interviewed for wanted to turn a particular language into a quiz show by asking me obscure questions about the language. I don't do well in those interviews and quite frankly see them as a sign I'll be a poor fit for the company. And that's ok. I'm interviewing them for a good fit just as much as they're interviewing me. Maybe in those jobs things are different but I make my living solving problems. The interviews (and jobs) where I've found myself to be a good fit focus on that. These days, I just happen to solve those problems in C# (which didn't exist when I got my degree). My experience is very important to getting my foot in the door but come interview time what I learned in my CS classes is what gets me the job over similarly-qualified applicants.

[hoffdano]

A bachelor's degree in computer science does not automatically qualify a person for a programming job in a specific language. Yes they learn programming languages, probably at least four or five, but most of the programs have just a few hundred or few thousands of lines of code. That is why some really good programmers without degrees can make lots (>>$100K) of money.

A CS degree that is 20 years ago is not worthless. Mine is older than that. Computer architecture, data structures (as pointed out above), etc. haven't changed that much. A CS graduate understands that a smartphone is really a computer with a two-way radio in it. And they have at least a general idea how the operating system might allow you to talk on the phone and look up a website at the same time. Even if that CS degree were earned decades ago.