District of Columbia·Computer and Mathematical Occupations·SOC 15-1244

Best Network programs in District of Columbia, ranked by enrollment

Install, configure, and maintain an organization's local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), data communications network, operating systems, and physical and virtual servers.

5 schools in District of Columbia run programs that feed this job, graduating 369 people a year. The job pays a median of $110,970 in District of Columbia across about 1,320 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledNetwork AdministratorSystems Administrator (Systems Admin)Information Technology Specialist (IT Specialist)Local Area Network Administrator (LAN Administrator)Network ManagerSoftware ManagerSystems OperatorSystems Specialist
Graduates / yr
369
in District of Columbia
Median pay · District of Columbia
$110,970
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,320
people employed
Schools
5
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
45%
across those schools
Median net price
$22,242
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in District of Columbia that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

3 programs in District of Columbia that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in District of Columbia (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own District of Columbia page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1357
96.7%
5$48,185$25,250
211
3.0%
2$57,986$24,286
31
0.3%
1$48,185$25,250

Top 5 schools in District of Columbia

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 3 of the 5 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1George Washington University
Washington, DC Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
234Computer and Information Systems Security/Auditing/Information Assurance$86,75384%$29,78947%
2Georgetown University
Washington, DC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
90Computer and Information Systems Security/Auditing/Information Assurance95%$22,24213%
3Strayer University - Global Region
Washington, DC Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
41Computer and Information Systems Security/Auditing/Information Assurance$61,81014%$18,144
4Strayer University - District of Columbia
Washington, DC Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs
2Computer and Information Systems Security/Auditing/Information Assurance$61,8100%
5University of the Potomac - Washington DC Campus
Washington, DC Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs
2Computer and Information Systems Security/Auditing/Information Assurance33%$18,868

All 5 schools in District of Columbia

Every school in District of Columbia with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in District of Columbia that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
George Washington UniversityWashingtonPrivate not-for-profit2342
Georgetown UniversityWashingtonPrivate not-for-profit901
Strayer University - Global RegionWashingtonPrivate for-profit411
Strayer University - District of ColumbiaWashingtonPrivate for-profit22
University of the Potomac - Washington DC CampusWashingtonPrivate for-profit22

What network and computer systems administrators earn in District of Columbia

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in District of Columbia
$110,970
Mean annual
$116,920
Jobs in state
1,320
What the range looks like
10th pct$80,850Median$110,97090th pct$150,580
Versus the national median
+11.9%

U.S. median $99,130. District of Columbia pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
0.93×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in District of Columbia

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
$125,430median
9,920 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
-4.2%
Decline
Openings per year
14,300
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
-13,800
331,500 → 317,700
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Network and Computer Systems Administrators page.

How to become a Network

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Top skills

Critical ThinkingReading ComprehensionMonitoringActive ListeningSpeakingWriting

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in District of Columbia

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 3 majors mapped to Network and Computer Systems Administrators3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 11.0101Computer and Information Sciences, General
  • 11.1001Network and System Administration/Administrator
  • 11.1003Computer and Information Systems Security/Auditing/Information Assurance

Common questions

Answers for people weighing network and computer systems administrators programs in District of Columbia.

What degree do you need to become a Network?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Computer and Information Systems Security/Auditing/Information Assurance, which awarded 357 degrees in District of Columbia in 2024-25, 96.7% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Network?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management, Computer and Information Sciences. Together they graduate about 369 people a year in District of Columbia.

How much do network and computer systems administrators earn in District of Columbia?+

The median is $110,970 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 11.9% above the U.S. median of $99,130. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for network and computer systems administrators growing?+

BLS projects a -4.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 14,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in District of Columbia?+

5 institutions in District of Columbia reported graduates from at least one of the 3 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do network and computer systems administrators work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Network Administrator, Systems Administrator (Systems Admin), Information Technology Specialist (IT Specialist), Local Area Network Administrator (LAN Administrator) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 15-1244.

Network and Computer Systems Administrators in other statesTexasGeorgiaFloridaVirginiaUtahNew YorkMarylandCalifornia

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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