Most In-Demand IT Degrees and Certifications in 2026

Key Infor­ma­tion:

• IT jobs are pro­ject­ed to grow 15%–20% through 2034, mak­ing tech­nol­o­gy one of the fastest-expand­ing and high­est-pay­ing fields in the economy.
• Com­put­er Sci­ence, Infor­ma­tion Sys­tems, and Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty degrees offer strong long-term ROI through high salaries, lead­er­ship poten­tial, and align­ment with in-demand tech­nolo­gies like AI and cloud computing.
• Cer­ti­fi­ca­tions such as AWS, Comp­TIA, and CISSP pro­vide faster, low­er-cost, job-ready skills that sig­nif­i­cant­ly boost employ­a­bil­i­ty and earn­ing potential.
• The smartest career strat­e­gy is often a blend­ed path—using degrees for foun­da­tion­al knowl­edge and cer­ti­fi­ca­tions for spe­cial­ized tech­ni­cal exper­tise and rapid advancement.

Did you know that the pro­ject­ed growth rate for com­put­er and IT occu­pa­tions is from 15% to 20%? This data is based on the Bureau of Labor Sta­tis­tics (BLS) 2024–2034 pro­jec­tions. These pro­ject­ed growth rates are faster than the nation­al aver­age, too.

The high demand for skilled com­put­er and IT pro­fes­sion­als isn’t sur­pris­ing either. In the Dig­i­tal Age, tech­nol­o­gy evolves rapidly.

As a result, com­put­er and IT pro­fes­sion­als must engage in con­tin­u­ous upskilling. Their cre­den­tials must be up-to-date, too. This way, they remain rel­e­vant and com­pet­i­tive in their industries.

But which one is the best option — degrees or cer­tifi­cates? There’s no right or wrong answer here. Both degrees and cer­ti­fi­ca­tions play key roles in career readiness.

Degrees pro­vide foun­da­tion­al knowl­edge for advanced stud­ies and roles in the future. Cer­ti­fi­ca­tions offer spe­cial­ized, job-ready skills.

So, if you’re inter­est­ed in know­ing more, read on. Here, we’ll dis­cuss the most in-demand IT degrees in 2026. Then, we’ll cov­er the best IT cer­ti­fi­ca­tions 2026 has to offer, too.

Relat­ed:

• Self-Paced Online Com­put­er Sci­ence Degrees
• Top Bach­e­lor of Com­put­er Sci­ence Degree Programs
• Best Bachelor’s in Infor­ma­tion Science
• Top Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty Degree Programs

Top Degrees: Computer Science, Information Systems, Cybersecurity

We select­ed these as the top IT degrees for the future due to the following:

• Strong demand for skilled tech professionals
• High earn­ing poten­tial and job security
• Align­ment with cur­rent and emerg­ing tech­nolo­gies (e.g., AI, cloud computing)

Computer Science (CS)

Pro­grams offer­ing the best com­put­er sci­ence degree 2026 has to offer focus on:

• Pro­gram­ming
• Algo­rithms
• Arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence (AI)
• Sys­tems architecture

This is a foun­da­tion­al IT degree that pre­pares stu­dents for rapid tech changes. It’s in demand because AI, automa­tion, and soft­ware engi­neer­ing remain high-growth areas.

There’s a 15% pro­ject­ed growth in soft­ware engi­neer­ing demand (BLS, 2024–2034). The over­all job out­look for CS pro­fes­sion­als is 21% and their medi­an salary is $130,160/year.

Career paths for CS pro­fes­sion­als, AI careers, like:

• Soft­ware developer
• Data engi­neer
• AI/ML spe­cial­ist
• Sys­tems architect

Their diverse work­places include health­care, busi­ness and finance, and biotechnology.

Information Systems (IS)

The infor­ma­tion sys­tems degree focus­es on bridg­ing busi­ness strat­e­gy and tech­nol­o­gy man­age­ment. As such, grad­u­ates can pur­sue IT man­age­ment careers as:

• IT project managers
• Sys­tems analysts
• Data­base administrators
• Chief infor­ma­tion officers

So, if you’re aim­ing for tech­nol­o­gy lead­er­ship roles, con­sid­er an IS degree.

The 14% pro­ject­ed job growth and medi­an salary of $110,000/year sweet­ens the deal. Indeed, pro­fes­sion­als who can trans­late busi­ness goals into dig­i­tal solu­tions are in demand.

Cybersecurity

Pro­grams offer­ing the best cyber­se­cu­ri­ty degrees 2026 have to offer focus on:

• Data pro­tec­tion
• Risk man­age­ment
• Dig­i­tal defense

Stu­dents learn com­pe­ten­cies in encryp­tion, eth­i­cal hack­ing, and secu­ri­ty archi­tec­ture, too. There’s also the option of earn­ing an eth­i­cal hack­ing cer­ti­fi­ca­tion. The degree pro­vides the foun­da­tion­al knowl­edge, while the cer­ti­fi­ca­tion boosts real-world skills.

Cyber­at­tacks and AI-dri­ven threats cre­ate a mas­sive glob­al demand for secu­ri­ty spe­cial­ists. The pro­ject­ed job growth is 29% (BLS, 2024–2034). Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty pro­fes­sion­als also enjoy high medi­an salaries at $124,910/year.

Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty career growth poten­tial starts with entry-lev­el jobs. Con­sid­er becom­ing a secu­ri­ty ana­lyst, pen­e­tra­tion tester, or secu­ri­ty engi­neer. Then, advance your career by aim­ing for a CISO position.

Comparison Table: IT Degrees Overview

Indeed, the pro­ject­ed IT career growth for 2026 is strong and steady across all major fields. In a com­put­er sci­ence vs infor­ma­tion sys­tems com­par­i­son, everybody’s a win­ner, too.

Certifications: AWS, CompTIA, CISSP

We chose the high­est pay­ing IT cer­ti­fi­ca­tions for obvi­ous rea­sons. You’ll want to enjoy a high return on investment.

AWS Certifications (Amazon Web Services)

Earn­ing a cloud com­put­ing cer­ti­fi­ca­tion mat­ters because:

• Cloud com­put­ing dom­i­nates IT infra­struc­ture, with star­tups and For­tune 500 com­pa­nies adopt­ing it.
• AWS cer­ti­fi­ca­tions lead the glob­al mar­ket with its com­pre­hen­sive set of cloud tools

The best AWS cer­ti­fi­ca­tion 2026 is the AWS Cer­ti­fied Solu­tions Archi­tect (Associate/Professional). With it, you can pur­sue a wide range of cloud archi­tect or DevOps engi­neer roles.

The AWS cer­ti­fi­ca­tion salary is $135,000/year (Glob­al Knowl­edge IT Skills Report).

CompTIA Certifications

These cer­ti­fi­ca­tions are ide­al for begin­ners enter­ing the IT indus­try. Pro­fes­sion­als earn ven­dor-neu­tral val­i­da­tion of foun­da­tion­al skills. These include hard­ware, cyber­se­cu­ri­ty, net­work­ing, and IT operations.

The best Comp­TIA cer­ti­fi­ca­tions for begin­ners are:

• Comp­TIA A+ (Hard­ware, oper­at­ing sys­tems, and support)
• Comp­TIA Net­work+ (Net­work­ing, infra­struc­ture, and protocols)
• Comp­TIA Secu­ri­ty+ (Basic risk man­age­ment, cyber­se­cu­ri­ty prac­tices, and defen­sive techniques)

With a Comp­TIA cer­ti­fi­ca­tion, you’re more com­pet­i­tive for entry-lev­el roles like:

• IT sup­port specialist
• Junior net­work administrator
• Sys­tems sup­port technician

The cer­ti­fi­ca­tions are strong step­ping stones to advanced paths, too.

The Secu­ri­ty+ salary 2026 ranges from $65,000 to $95,000/year.

CISSP Certification (Certified Information Systems Security Professional)

The CISSP is the indus­try gold stan­dard for senior cyber­se­cu­ri­ty pro­fes­sion­als. The cer­ti­fi­ca­tion high­lights the professional’s abil­i­ties to man­age com­plex secu­ri­ty ecosystems. 

But the CISSP exam require­ments make it among the most chal­leng­ing, too. Can­di­dates must:

• Have 5+ years of cumu­la­tive paid work expe­ri­ence in at least two of the eight domains
• Pass the rig­or­ous exam cov­er­ing the eight domains in the (ISC)² Com­mon Body of Knowl­edge (CBK)

If you don’t have the required expe­ri­ence, you can still take the exam. You’ll earn the Asso­ciate of (ISC)² cre­den­tial if you pass it.

Becom­ing a CISSP opens doors to lead­er­ship roles like:

• Chief Infor­ma­tion Secu­ri­ty Offi­cer (CISO)
• Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty consultant
• Direc­tor of infor­ma­tion security

This is also among the high­est-pay­ing cyber­se­cu­ri­ty cer­ti­fi­ca­tions. CIS­SPs can earn more than $410,000/year, on aver­age, globally.

Comparison Table: Top IT Certifications

ROI: Salaries + Job Growth Rates

Is an IT degree or cer­ti­fi­ca­tion a good invest­ment? This is the basic ques­tion that you must ask in rela­tion to return on invest­ment (ROI). In layman’s terms, it’s how much you can get back com­pared to how much you spent.

If you get back more than you spent, it’s a good ROI. But if you get back less than you spent, it’s a poor ROI.

IT Job Outlook 2026–2034

The most in-demand IT degrees 2026 does offer have high growth rates. The BLS fore­casts con­tin­ued expan­sion in cloud com­put­ing, cyber­se­cu­ri­ty, and data analysis.

Here’s a com­par­i­son table for your quick reference.

Degree vs. Certification ROI

Degrees offer broad­er career flex­i­bil­i­ty and access to management/strategic roles. Pro­fes­sion­als with degrees also tend to enjoy high­er IT salaries in 2026.

The best return on invest­ment IT degrees offer are those in the Cloud Engi­neer­ing and Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty fields. Both have high growth rates and medi­an salaries.

Cer­ti­fi­ca­tions offer faster ROI and skill val­i­da­tion for spe­cif­ic tech­ni­cal paths. You’ll also spend less time and mon­ey on earn­ing them.

For max­i­mum impact, com­bine a degree and cer­ti­fi­ca­tion. For exam­ple, a CS degree paired with an AWS cer­ti­fi­ca­tion yields a high­er ROI.

How to Choose Between Degree vs. Certification Paths

Both paths are an excel­lent choice. But if you have to choose one over the oth­er, it becomes tricky.

When to Choose a Degree

If you’re either one of these indi­vid­u­als, you should con­sid­er a degree.

• Enter­ing the IT indus­try with no background
• Seek­ing long-term career stability

Choos­ing from one of the best cyber­se­cu­ri­ty degrees 2026 — or any of the above degrees — means:

• More access to lead­er­ship roles
• Deep­er the­o­ry base
• Eli­gi­bil­i­ty for grad­u­ate study

This is also ide­al for stu­dents pur­su­ing data sci­ence, soft­ware devel­op­ment, or IT management.

When to Choose Certifications

This is the best route for:

• Career chang­ers
• Upskillers
• Entry-lev­el tech work­ers seek­ing quick advancement

Exam­ples include IT sup­port, cloud, or cyber­se­cu­ri­ty professionals.

These offer the ben­e­fits of low cost, short dura­tion, and high employ­a­bil­i­ty for spe­cif­ic tech­ni­cal niches.

Blended Strategy for Maximum Impact

Many pro­fes­sion­als pur­sue both a degree and cer­ti­fi­ca­tions. You can earn a BS in Infor­ma­tion Sys­tems and an AWS or CISSP. Employ­ers even favor stack­able credentials.

Here are steps you can take, too, to deter­mine your best path. 

• Define your long-term goal (devel­op­er, ana­lyst, manager).
• Assess time and finan­cial resources.
• Choose accred­it­ed pro­grams and rec­og­nized certifications.

In the end, the best tech degrees for a high salary are what you make of them.

Conclusion

In con­clu­sion, degree vs cer­ti­fi­ca­tion IT careers are both reward­ing and chal­leng­ing. Com­put­er and IT occu­pa­tions are among the fastest-grow­ing and high­est-pay­ing sectors.

Proof: About 317,700 open­ings are pro­ject­ed every year, on aver­age (BLS, 2024–2034). Work­ers earned $105,990/year in medi­an wages (BLS, May 2024).

Whether you choose a degree or a cer­tifi­cate, you’re mak­ing the right choice. Degrees pro­vide a broad foun­da­tion while cer­ti­fi­ca­tions ensure rapid specialization. 

Bet­ter yet, you should explore both paths for max­i­mum flex­i­bil­i­ty and gain. Earn an associate’s or bachelor’s degree. Then, add a rel­e­vant cer­ti­fi­ca­tion — or two, if you want — for a com­pet­i­tive edge.