Tech-Focused Online Degrees for Future-Proof Careers

Key Infor­ma­tion:

• Com­put­er and infor­ma­tion tech­nol­o­gy occu­pa­tions are future-proof, with a pro­ject­ed 356,700 job open­ings per year and a medi­an salary of $104,420.
• Tech-focused online degrees in fields like com­put­er sci­ence, cyber­se­cu­ri­ty, and data sci­ence offer high-demand career oppor­tu­ni­ties with strong salary potential.
• Online tech degrees pro­vide flex­i­bil­i­ty, afford­abil­i­ty, and access to indus­try experts, mak­ing them ide­al for work­ing pro­fes­sion­als and career changers.
• Emerg­ing fields like arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence, blockchain tech­nol­o­gy, and UX/UI design are expand­ing career prospects for grad­u­ates of tech-focused online programs.

Did you know that com­put­er and infor­ma­tion tech­nol­o­gy occu­pa­tions are future-proof? Their pro­ject­ed job growth is much faster than aver­age for all jobs (BLS, 2023–2033). There are about 356,700 pro­ject­ed open­ings per year, on average.

Fur­ther­more, these are among the high­est-pay­ing occu­pa­tions that offer job secu­ri­ty. These pro­fes­sion­als earn $104,420/year in medi­an wages (BLS, May 2023), more than twice for all jobs ($48,060/year).

Indeed, now is the best time to earn tech-focused online degrees. You’ll be at the fore­front of careers that dri­ve inno­va­tions in diverse indus­tries. Bring your tech-focused degree into the tech, busi­ness, and health­care sec­tors, among oth­ers. You can make a sig­nif­i­cant dif­fer­ence in their bot­tom line with your tech skills.

In this arti­cle, we’ll look at the best tech-focused online degrees to kick­start your career. We’ll also dis­cuss their ben­e­fits and steps to choose the best one for you.

Relat­ed:

• Fast-track Soft­ware Engi­neer­ing Pro­grams for Aspir­ing Developers
• Data Sci­ence Cer­ti­fi­ca­tions for Work­ing Professionals
• 2025 Emerg­ing Online Degree Programs
• Self-Paced Online Com­put­er Sci­ence Degrees

Why Choose Tech-Focused Online Degrees?

You must first be aware that tech-focused online degrees have their chal­lenges. Tech­ni­cal issues, fast obso­les­cence, and time man­age­ment issues are com­mon. For­tu­nate­ly, you can over­come them through a proac­tive atti­tude and persistence.

When you con­sid­er these ben­e­fits, you’ll also have an eas­i­er time deal­ing with the challenges.

Growing Demand for Tech Skills

Pro­fes­sion­als with up-to-date tech skills are in high­er demand than ever before. In fact, there’s an IT skills short­age that, by 2026, will affect over 90% of orga­ni­za­tions world­wide. The IT skills short­age can result in as many as 85 mil­lion tech-relat­ed vacan­cies by 2030.

How­ev­er, cer­tain tech­nol­o­gy fields have more rapid job growth than oth­ers. Arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence, cyber­se­cu­ri­ty, and soft­ware devel­op­ment are among them.

The bot­tom line: Your tech-focused online degree can lead to high-pay­ing, in-demand occupations.

Flexibility of Online Learning

Work­ing pro­fes­sion­als and busy stu­dents enjoy a bet­ter work-life bal­ance in online pro­grams. Self-paced learn­ing for­mats, asyn­chro­nous cours­es, and syn­chro­nous class­es from any­where are com­mon. You can then bal­ance your work, aca­d­e­m­ic, and fam­i­ly commitments.

Affordability and Accessibility

Online stu­dents can save on the costs of trans­porta­tion, text­books, and cam­pus fees. Many online pro­grams also have in-state tuition for all stu­dents. There’s no need to relo­cate, too, mean­ing less expense.

Future-Proof Career Opportunities

You can look for­ward to future-proof careers with online degrees. Future-proof because you can adapt your exist­ing knowl­edge and skills to new tech­nolo­gies. You can also upskill and reskill to adapt to up-and-com­ing and evolv­ing fields, such as AI. 

Top Tech-Focused Online Degrees for Future-Proof Careers

Take a look at these five tech-focused online degrees lead­ing to future-proof careers.

Bachelor’s in Computer Science

Among the best online tech degrees for job growth and salary is com­put­er sci­ence. With a bach­e­lor’s degree, you can pur­sue jobs as a: (Annu­al medi­an salary; 10-year pro­ject­ed job growth)

• Soft­ware engi­neers ($132,270; 17%)
• Data ana­lysts ($108,020; 36%)
• Machine learn­ing spe­cial­ists ($122,154; 40%)

Stu­dents focus on soft­ware devel­op­ment, AI, and algorithms.

Bachelor’s in Cybersecurity

If you’re look­ing for high-demand tech degrees online, try cyber­se­cu­ri­ty, too. You’ll focus on infor­ma­tion secu­ri­ty, eth­i­cal hack­ing, and risk management.

Careers include:

• Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty ana­lysts ($120,360; 11%)
• Infor­ma­tion secu­ri­ty man­agers ($169,510; 17%)

Gov­ern­ment agen­cies, cor­po­ra­tions, and non­prof­its are pop­u­lar employ­ers for cyber­se­cu­ri­ty graduates.

Bachelor’s in Data Science

Yet anoth­er of the best online degrees for tech­nol­o­gy careers is data sci­ence. Stu­dents focus on data ana­lyt­ics, machine learn­ing, and Big Data tools. Python and R pro­gram­ming, data visu­al­iza­tion, and sta­tis­ti­cal analy­sis are among the courses.

You can pur­sue a career as a:

• Data sci­en­tist ($108,020; 36%)
• Busi­ness intel­li­gence ana­lyst ($101,668; 10%)

With more orga­ni­za­tions using data-dri­ven deci­sion-mak­ing, you’re in high demand.

Bachelor’s in Information Technology

Tech­nol­o­gy-focused online degree pro­grams offer­ing IT spe­cial­iza­tions are pop­u­lar, too. Stu­dents gain fun­da­men­tal com­pe­ten­cies in net­work­ing, cloud com­put­ing, and IT support.

After grad­u­a­tion, pos­si­ble careers include:

• IT man­agers ($169,510; 17%)
• Net­work admin­is­tra­tors ($95,360; 3%)
• Sys­tems ana­lysts ($103,800; 11%)

Bachelor’s in Software Engineering

Earn it if you’re look­ing for online STEM degrees for future careers in diverse indus­tries. Soft­ware devel­op­ment, cyber­se­cu­ri­ty, and busi­ness are a few fields you can work in. You’ll learn appli­ca­tion devel­op­ment, soft­ware design, and testing.

With the degree, you can become a:

• Mobile app devel­op­er ($97,200; 17%)
• Soft­ware archi­tect ($165,316; 21%)

With these num­bers, it’s no won­der that these tech-focused online degrees attract the best.

Emerging Fields and Future-Focused Degrees

Con­sid­er these emerg­ing fields lead­ing to future-proof careers, too:

Bachelor’s in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

The best careers in tech with online edu­ca­tion are in AI and machine learn­ing. Why? These aren’t only trendy buzz­words but emerg­ing tech­nolo­gies shap­ing our world now.

AI and machine learn­ing have prac­ti­cal appli­ca­tions in many every­day things. Robot­ics, nat­ur­al lan­guage pro­cess­ing, and automa­tion are a few appli­ca­tions. Smart assis­tants and rec­om­men­da­tion sys­tems are examples.

Bachelor’s in Blockchain Technology

Blockchain tech­nol­o­gy gives the trans­paren­cy and secu­ri­ty of many indus­tries a boost. There’s a grow­ing demand for it in the finance, health­care, and sup­ply chain industries.

Bachelor’s in Renewable Energy Technology

Stu­dents pre­pare for suc­cess­ful careers in the solar, wind, and hydro­elec­tric ener­gy indus­try. Pop­u­lar occu­pa­tions include envi­ron­men­tal tech­nol­o­gists and renew­able ener­gy consultants.

Bachelor’s in UX/UI Design

Stu­dents focus on design­ing appeal­ing, user-friend­ly, and intu­itive dig­i­tal prod­ucts. There’s a strong empha­sis on pos­i­tive user experiences.

Bachelor’s in Robotics and Automation

Learn­ers gain key skills suit­able for indus­tries mov­ing toward robot­ics and automa­tion. Cours­es include indus­tri­al automa­tion, embed­ded sys­tems, and autonomous sys­tems design.

Benefits of Online Tech Degrees

These ben­e­fits are yours to enjoy as an online stu­dent in a tech-focused degree program.

Hands-On Learning Opportunities

Your the­o­ret­i­cal knowl­edge gets a boost through hands-on learn­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties. Being able to work with your hands, so to speak, trans­lates to prac­ti­cal skills. You’ll devel­op real-world skills through sim­u­la­tions, vir­tu­al labs, and cap­stone projects.

Access to Industry Experts

Online pro­grams usu­al­ly have on-cam­pus pro­fes­sors lead­ing the class­es. Many of these pro­fes­sors are also lead­ers in their tech fields. You’ll have net­work­ing and men­tor­ing opportunities.

Global Networking Opportunities

The beau­ty of online pro­grams is that they remove geo­graph­i­cal bar­ri­ers. You can learn along with peers and learn from pro­fes­sors from around the world.

Certification and Job Readiness

Online pro­grams also enable stu­dents to earn indus­try cer­ti­fi­ca­tions. Think Cis­co, AWS, and Comp­TIA. Your job readi­ness also gets a boost because you’ll gain prac­ti­cal skills. Plus, cer­ti­fi­ca­tions are a com­pet­i­tive edge.

How to Choose the Right Online Tech Degree Program

Here are the fac­tors to con­sid­er in choos­ing from among tech-focused online degrees.

Accreditation

Always check for the region­al or nation­al accred­i­ta­tion of the col­lege itself. Then, check the pro­gram­mat­ic accred­i­ta­tion. ABET and DEAC are the gold standards.

Specialization Options

Con­sid­er the spe­cial­iza­tions or con­cen­tra­tions avail­able. You can expand your com­pe­ten­cies in your area of inter­est via a concentration.

Cost and Financial Aid

Yes, there are afford­able online tech degrees. The trick is to com­bine finan­cial aid options, such as fed­er­al aid and schol­ar­ships. Be sure to com­pare tuition costs, too.

Flexibility and Schedule

Con­sid­er your cur­rent dai­ly sched­ule, learn­ing style, and learn­ing pref­er­ences. Then, com­pare them with the learn­ing for­mats. Syn­chro­nous and asyn­chro­nous class­es have their mer­its and challenges.

Student Support Services

Being a suc­cess­ful online stu­dent takes a vil­lage, too. Look at the stu­dent sup­port ser­vices — their scope, qual­i­ty, and avail­abil­i­ty. Aca­d­e­m­ic advis­ing, career coun­sel­ing, and tech sup­port are a must.

Success Stories of Graduates from Tech-Focused Online Degrees

Again, tech degrees are among the best for job oppor­tu­ni­ties and salary growth. You can explore your options in a wide range of indus­tries, too. Tech degrees are ver­sa­tile because many indus­tries are tran­si­tion­ing into dig­i­tal transformation.

It’s always best to get inspi­ra­tion from real-life suc­cess sto­ries. Tim­o­thy Gal­lagher, for exam­ple, loved the flex­i­bil­i­ty of his online BSIT program.

Careers in Technology for Future-Proof Success

Here are more facts that can inspire your deci­sion to pur­sue a tech-focused degree.

High-Growth Job Roles

Suc­cess in life isn’t only about high-rank­ing, high-pay­ing posi­tions. It’s also about per­son­al ful­fill­ment and pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment. Once you’ve reached a cer­tain point in your career, the non-mon­e­tary ben­e­fits mat­ter, too.

This is true with high-growth job roles, such as data ana­lysts, cyber­se­cu­ri­ty pro­fes­sion­als, and AI spe­cial­ists. These jobs aren’t only in high demand and pay well. Fur­ther­more, these jobs have a pos­i­tive impact on peo­ple, orga­ni­za­tions, and society.

Salary Expectations

Even the low­est-paid among the com­put­er and infor­ma­tion tech­nol­o­gy jobs earn $60,810/year, on aver­age. As you earn an advanced degree and gain more work expe­ri­ence, your earn­ing poten­tial increas­es, too.

Industries Embracing Technology

You don’t have to be lim­it­ed to the tech­nol­o­gy indus­try. Instead, explore your career options in the health­care, finance, man­u­fac­tur­ing, and enter­tain­ment sec­tors, too.

Conclusion

High demand, high salaries, high impact, and future-proof careers. These are the ben­e­fits that come with accred­it­ed online degrees in tech­nol­o­gy. You must explore tech-focused online degrees if you want to be in on the action.

Vis­it our Bach­e­lors Degree Cen­ter web­site for guid­ance on find­ing the best tech-focused online programs.