Undergraduate Major & Minor - Management Information Systems
The MIS program prepares students to plan for, design, analyze, use, and manage digital assets of an organization. Digital assets of a modern business environment involve not only technology but also the IT-enabled processes governing business activities as well as the associated information/knowledge acquisition, processing, synthesis, management, and transfer processes.
MIS coursework prepares students to make better decisions by applying information technologies to solve business problems and transform enterprise operations and to innovate and manage business processes in different functional areas through the best use of the technological infrastructure of an organization. The collective impact of the coursework is to enable students to understand and apply information technology in creating business opportunities and to acquire the skills necessary for the functional management of the tasks needed to secure those opportunities.
Students who major or minor in MIS are eligible to try out for the MIS Case Competition Team. The team represents the Carlson MIS program at international case competitions. Students who make the team earn 1 credit of IDSC 4491 and a unique experience for their resume. The credits do not apply toward the major or minor, but count toward overall degree credits. Competition expenses are covered by our generous corporate sponsors.
Major Curriculum
View the full Management Information Systems Major catalog:
First-year students entering Fall 2022: Management Information Systems Major Program Requirements and Course Descriptions | Students entering prior to Fall 2022 and transfer students entering prior to Fall 2023: Prior to Fall 2022 Management Information Systems Major Program Requirements and Course Descriptions |
Minor Curriculum
View the full Management Information Systems Minor catalog:
Management Information Systems Minor Program Requirements and Course Descriptions
Four-year Plan
Management Information Systems Major Sample Plan
The APAS is the official method for tracking the completion of your specific degree requirements. Please be aware that there are multiple ways for students to progress through this major. This is just one sample. Students should work with their advisor to develop their individual plan.
Italic: course pre-requisites and co-requisites (designated by &)
Bold: Liberal Ed requirement
Freshman Year
Fall Semester
- Econ 1165 Business Economics (Soc Sci) (4cr)
- BA 2551 Business Statistics in R (Math) (4cr)
- BA 1011 Leading Self & Teams (2cr)
- BA 1021 Design Your Life (1cr)
- Writ 1301 First Year Writing (4cr)
15 credits
Spring Semester
- Acct 2051 Financial Reporting (4cr)
- BA 2051 Solving Business Scenarios in Excel (2cr)
- BA 2062 Powerful Problem Solving (2cr)
- Design Your Career (1cr)
- BA 2005 Corporate Responsibility & Ethics (Civ) (3cr)
- Liberal Ed (3-4cr)
15-16 credits
Sophomore Year
Fall Semester
Maroon Block I-Core
- Mktg 3001 Principles of Marketing (3cr)
- IDSc 3001 Information Systems & Digital Transformation (3cr)
- BA 3001 Race, Power, & Justice in Business (RPJ) (3cr)
- Acct 3001 Strategic Management Accounting (3cr)
- BA 3051 Data-Driven Business Decisions (BA 2551 & BA 2051) (3cr)
15 credits
Spring Semester
Gold Block I-Core
- Fina 3001 Finance Fundamentals (Acct 2051 & BA 2551) (3cr)
- Mgmt 3004 Strategic Management (3cr)
- SCO 3001 Sustainable Supply Chain Management (3cr)
- HRIR 3021 Human Capital Management (3cr)
- BA 3062 Impact Lab Project (BA 2062) (2cr)
14 credits
Declare a major:
z.umn.edu/CarlsonDeclare
Junior Year
Fall Semester
- BA 3551 Business Analytics (BA 2551 & BA 2051) (3cr)
- IDSc 3202 Analysis and Modeling of Business Systems (IDSC 3001) (4cr)
- IDSc 3101 Introduction to Programming (2cr)
- IDSc 3102 Intermediate Programming (IDSc 3101) (2cr)
- Liberal Ed (4cr)
15 credits
Spring Semester
- BA 3033W Business Communication (3cr)
- IDSc 4204W Strategic Information Technology Management (IDSc 3202) (4cr)
- Liberal Ed (3cr)
- Liberal Ed (4cr)
14 credits
Senior Year
Fall Semester
- IDSc 3103 Data Modeling and Databases (2cr)
- IDSc 3104 Enterprise Systems (IDSc 3001) (2cr)
- MIS elective (2cr)
- Liberal Ed (4cr)
- Elective (4cr)
- Elective (2cr)
16 credits
Spring Semester
- IDSc 4301 MIS in Action: Capstone Course (IDSc 3202 & 4204W) (2cr)
- MIS elective (2cr)
- Liberal Ed (3cr)
- Elective (4cr)
- Elective (4cr)
15 credits
Total Credits Needed for Degree: 120
Note: Students must complete an international experience as part of the program requirements. Short-term programs or semester-length programs may be used to meet this requirement. Explore your options: z.umn.edu/CarlsonIE
- Students who complete a unique independent study project may petition to have IDSC 4491 Independent Study in Information Systems (1-4 credits) apply toward their major.
- Please note that this major has strict sequencing and students need to allow for three semesters to complete IDSc 3202, IDSc 4204W, and IDSc 4301.
MIS professionals are often the problem-solvers of an organization’s IT issues. MIS professionals must have an interest in technology, but positions range from being highly technical (programmer or information security analyst) to more people-oriented (project manager and business analyst). A typical role as a business analyst involves working within an organization to establish or improve processes, acting as an intermediary between the user and the programmer. MIS professionals often are the ‘translator’ between an IT department and the business, working to align business objectives and IT strategy.
Sample careers for MIS majors:
- Application Analyst
- Business Analyst
- Business Intelligence Analyst
- Business System Analyst
- Data Analyst
- Database Administrator
- Information Security Analyst
- IT Consultant
- Information Technology Project Managers
- Information Technology Security Consultants
Companies/Orgs that hire MIS students:
- 3M
- Accenture
- Medtronic
- Deloitte
- Ernst & Young
- KPMG
- RSM