Best degree programs for Computer Network Architects, ranked by enrollment
9 college programs and 1,972 schools train Computer Network Architects. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $134,050 median wage, 179,740 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
9 college programs at 1,972 schools train computer network architects, graduating 209,554 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Computer and Information Sciences, General. The job pays a median of $134,050 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About computer network architects
Design and implement computer and information networks, such as local area networks (LAN), wide area networks (WAN), intranets, extranets, and other data communications networks. Perform network modeling, analysis, and planning, including analysis of capacity needs for network infrastructures. May also design network and computer security measures. May research and recommend network and data communications hardware and software.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
9 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 11.0101 | 73,454 | 35.1% | 879 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 2 | CIP 11.0103 | 48,440 | 23.1% | 671 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 3 | CIP 11.1003 | 48,110 | 23.0% | 905 | $48,185 | $25,250 |
| 4 | CIP 11.0901 | 15,062 | 7.2% | 463 | $43,901 | $22,822 |
| 5 | CIP 14.0901 | 13,854 | 6.6% | 303 | $78,333 | $24,098 |
| 6 | CIP 11.1001 | 5,461 | 2.6% | 204 | $48,185 | $25,250 |
| 7 | CIP 11.0501 | 2,995 | 1.4% | 81 | $51,805 | $46,000 |
| 8 | CIP 11.0902 | 1,612 | 0.8% | 61 | $43,901 | $22,822 |
| 9 | CIP 14.0999 | 566 | 0.3% | 21 | $78,333 | $24,098 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What computer network architects earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | $133,310 | 13,650 | 0.84× | 118 | 19,133 |
| Florida | $132,800 | 9,370 | 0.82× | 100 | 14,822 |
| California | $158,870 | 14,870 | 0.71× | 171 | 13,968 |
| Georgia | $133,890 | 7,690 | 1.36× | 56 | 11,206 |
| Utah | $121,000 | 1,330 | 0.66× | 20 | 10,548 |
| Virginia | $141,340 | 9,380 | 1.97× | 57 | 9,550 |
| North Carolina | $127,320 | 8,350 | 1.46× | 87 | 9,293 |
| Illinois | $132,790 | 7,810 | 1.11× | 73 | 9,069 |
| New York | $140,390 | 9,800 | 0.88× | 95 | 8,973 |
| Maryland | $159,460 | 5,860 | 1.83× | 37 | 7,393 |
| Arizona | $130,890 | 3,990 | 1.07× | 33 | 6,829 |
| Kentucky | $103,740 | 1,710 | 0.74× | 33 | 6,579 |
| Indiana | $124,190 | 2,030 | 0.55× | 31 | 6,346 |
| Pennsylvania | $131,840 | 6,080 | 0.87× | 103 | 6,320 |
| Ohio | $131,070 | 5,150 | 0.80× | 67 | 6,050 |
| Michigan | $112,040 | 3,210 | 0.63× | 56 | 5,499 |
| New Jersey | $162,350 | 5,660 | 1.14× | 49 | 4,967 |
| Missouri | $103,130 | 3,360 | 0.99× | 45 | 4,416 |
| Massachusetts | $155,060 | 6,270 | 1.49× | 49 | 4,387 |
| New Hampshire | $125,420 | 560 | 0.71× | 15 | 4,106 |
| Colorado | $139,230 | 16,380 | 4.93× | 28 | 3,415 |
| Alabama | $130,810 | 4,200 | 1.72× | 42 | 3,381 |
| Wisconsin | $131,720 | 2,170 | 0.64× | 41 | 2,996 |
| Washington | $168,070 | 4,730 | 1.15× | 42 | 2,522 |
| Oklahoma | $109,450 | 1,320 | 0.67× | 47 | 2,134 |
| Minnesota | $133,270 | 2,040 | 0.60× | 39 | 1,991 |
| Connecticut | $143,890 | 1,570 | 0.80× | 19 | 1,968 |
| Arkansas | $110,400 | 910 | 0.60× | 29 | 1,774 |
| Tennessee | $123,860 | 4,330 | 1.14× | 45 | 1,730 |
| Louisiana | $106,620 | 470 | 0.21× | 23 | 1,658 |
| South Carolina | $134,990 | 1,950 | 0.73× | 36 | 1,590 |
| Nebraska | $116,420 | 1,350 | 1.14× | 17 | 1,513 |
| West Virginia | $122,520 | 360 | 0.44× | 24 | 1,420 |
| Delaware | $148,390 | 760 | 1.36× | 5 | 1,367 |
| Mississippi | $90,990 | — | — | 22 | 1,358 |
| Idaho | $107,620 | 720 | 0.72× | 10 | 1,054 |
| Kansas | $100,610 | 1,770 | 1.06× | 25 | 961 |
| Iowa | $103,050 | 1,170 | 0.65× | 26 | 908 |
| District of Columbia | $137,670 | 1,490 | 1.84× | 9 | 885 |
| Nevada | $138,060 | 1,010 | 0.56× | 7 | 831 |
| New Mexico | $109,080 | 420 | 0.42× | 16 | 813 |
| Oregon | $135,660 | 1,540 | 0.68× | 21 | 720 |
| South Dakota | $153,390 | 420 | 0.80× | 11 | 649 |
| Rhode Island | $131,320 | 460 | 0.80× | 7 | 357 |
| Vermont | $110,930 | 130 | 0.37× | 5 | 334 |
| Hawaii | $108,000 | 320 | 0.44× | 7 | 328 |
| North Dakota | $108,990 | 230 | 0.46× | 12 | 296 |
| Maine | $108,570 | 570 | 0.77× | 13 | 221 |
| Montana | $104,300 | 250 | 0.42× | 12 | 163 |
| Wyoming | $100,520 | 50 | 0.16× | 7 | 105 |
| Alaskamoderate | $119,720 | 120 | 0.32× | 3 | 25 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Develop disaster recovery plans.
- Develop or recommend network security measures, such as firewalls, network security audits, or automated security probes.
- Develop and implement solutions for network problems.
- Maintain networks by performing activities such as file addition, deletion, or backup.
- Coordinate network operations, maintenance, repairs, or upgrades.
- Coordinate installation of new equipment.
- Monitor and analyze network performance and reports on data input or output to detect problems, identify inefficient use of computer resources, or perform capacity planning.
- Develop network-related documentation.
Skills
- Critical Thinking3.9
- Reading Comprehension3.8
- Active Listening3.7
- Writing3.4
- Speaking3.4
- Active Learning3.3
- Monitoring3.1
- Mathematics3.0
Knowledge areas
- Telecommunications4.6
- Computers and Electronics4.4
- Engineering and Technology4.2
- English Language3.7
- Customer and Personal Service3.3
- Mathematics3.3
Abilities
- Oral Comprehension3.9
- Problem Sensitivity3.8
- Written Comprehension3.8
- Oral Expression3.8
- Information Ordering3.7
- Inductive Reasoning3.6
Core activities
- Working with Computers4.6
- Getting Information4.4
- Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge4.3
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.3
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.2
- Processing Information4.0
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Computer Network Architect
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- Work experience needed
- 5 years or more
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.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 9 majors mapped to Computer Network Architects9 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 11.0101Computer and Information Sciences, General
- 11.0103Information Technology
- 11.0501Computer Systems Analysis/Analyst
- 11.0901Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications
- 11.0902Cloud Computing
- 11.1001Network and System Administration/Administrator
- 11.1003Computer and Information Systems Security/Auditing/Information Assurance
- 14.0901Computer Engineering, General
- 14.0999Computer Engineering, Other
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Computer Network Architect?+
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 Sciences, General, which awarded 73,454 degrees in 2024-25, 35.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Computer Network Architect?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 9 programs to this occupation. The largest are Computer and Information Sciences, Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management, Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications, Computer Engineering, plus 1 more. Together they graduate about 209,554 people a year.
How much do computer network architects earn?+
The median is $134,050 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $79,900 at the 10th percentile to $202,680 at the 90th. 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 computer network architects growing?+
BLS projects a +11.9% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 11,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
1,972 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 9 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 computer network architects work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Engineer, Network Analyst, Systems Engineer, Solutions Architect, Communications Engineer, Infrastructure Engineer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 15-1241.
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 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected 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 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, 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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