Data management manager education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a data management manager. Data management managers usually study business, computer science, or accounting. 66% of data management managers hold a bachelor's degree, and 21% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 633 real data management manager resumes to see exactly what data management manager education sections show.

The most common colleges for data management managers are the University of Phoenix and the University of Phoenix.

There are also many online data management manager courses to help get the education required to be a data management manager.

There are certain data management manager certifications that you should consider. These data management manager certifications include Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Clinical Data Manager (CCDM).

What education do you need to become a data management manager?

What degree do you need to be a data management manager?

The most common degree for data management managers is bachelor's degree, with 66% of data management managers earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are master's degree degree at 21% and master's degree degree at 9%.

Bachelor's, 66%

Master's, 21%

Associate, 9%

High School Diploma, 2%

Other Degrees, 2%

What should I major in to become a data management manager?

You should major in business to become a data management manager. 25% of data management managers major in business. Other common majors for a data management manager include computer science and accounting.

Business, 25%

Computer Science, 8%

Accounting, 8%

Management, 7%

Other Majors, 52%

Most common colleges for data management managers

Data management managers often get their degrees at University of Phoenix, New York University, and Pennsylvania State University. Here are the most common colleges for data management managers in the US based on their resumes.

Data management manager common college	Percentages
University of Phoenix	14.43%
New York University	6.19%
Pennsylvania State University	6.19%
University of Maryland - College Park	5.15%
DeVry University	5.15%

Show more common data management manager colleges

Best majors for data management managers

Rank	Major	Percentages
1	Business	25.3%
2	Computer Science	8.4%
3	Accounting	7.6%
4	Management	6.7%
5	Psychology	5.3%

Show more common data management manager majors

Best colleges for data management managers

The best colleges for data management managers are Carnegie Mellon University, University of Pennsylvania, and Northwestern University.

A data management manager with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for data management managers. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become data management managers.

1. Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$55,465

Enrollment

6,483

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

3. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

In-state tuition

$53,948

Enrollment

17,238

4. University of Washington

Seattle, WA • Private

In-state tuition

$11,207

Enrollment

30,905

5. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

6. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

7. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, MN • Private

In-state tuition

$14,760

Enrollment

31,451

8. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-state tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

9. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

In-state tuition

$51,522

Enrollment

13,760

10. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

20 best online courses for data management managers

Advertising disclosure

1. Data Management with Databricks: Big Data with Delta Lakes

In this 2-hour guided project, "Data Management with Databricks: Big Data with Delta Lakes" you will collaborate with the instructor to achieve the following objectives: 1-Create Delta Tables in Databricks and write data to them. Gain hands-on experience in setting up and managing Delta Tables, a powerful data storage format optimized for performance and reliability. 2-Transform a Delta table using Python and leverage SQL to query the data for creating a comprehensive dashboard. Learn how to...

2. Getting Started with Data Warehousing and BI Analytics

Kickstart your Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence (BI) Analytics journey with this self-paced course. You will learn how to design, deploy, load, manage, and query data warehouses and data marts. You will also work with BI tools to analyze data in these repositories. You will begin this course by understanding different kinds of analytics repositories including data marts, data warehouses, data lakes, data lakehouses, and data reservoirs, and their functions and uses. They are designed...

3. Data Warehouse ETL Testing & Data Quality Management A-Z

4.4

(2,977)

ETL Testing and Data Quality Management for beginners with practical exercises and certificate of completion...

4. 4x1 Data Management/Governance/Security/Ethics Masterclass

4.4

(533)

You'll learn about data literacy, Data Quality operations, Data Governance policies and Data Security/Privacy controls...

5. Be A Better Manager 2 - Data Driven Management Training

4.4

(2,650)

Business Management Training - Be A Better Manager - learn how to use Data to improve your management skills...

6. Data Quality Fundamentals

4.2

(557)

Understand key concepts, principles and terminology related to Data Quality...

7. SQL - MySQL for Data Analytics and Business Intelligence

4.6

(53,305)

SQL that will get you hired – SQL for Business Analysis, Marketing, and Data Management...

8. Fundamentals of Data Analysis for Big Data

4.5

(270)

This course prepares participants to begin running data analysis on databases...

9. Data Warehouse Development Process

4.3

(790)

Specific aspects of Data Warehouse Development Process...

10. Data Quality Masterclass - The Complete Course

4.5

(1,220)

Learn Data Quality Management from A to Z. This complete guide covers all Data Quality Principles, Techniques and more...

11. Statistical Data Analysis with SAS

4.4

(575)

Understanding the Data Flow in SAS: Learn SAS Programming from Data Importing, Management, Manipulation to Data Analysis...

12. New Manager's Guide: Business Skills & ChatGPT Data Analysis

4.5

(547)

A Day in Modern Business: Exploring Essential Skills and Data Science Using Chat GPT Advanced Data Analysis...

13. Getting Started with Data Management

4.5

(461)

Learn the basics of how organizations deal with data. Analyze data using Python and SQL. Explore Hadoop and Hive...

14. Data Science:Data Mining & Natural Language Processing in R

4.7

(387)

Harness the Power of Machine Learning in R for Data/Text Mining, & Natural Language Processing with Practical Examples...

15. The Product Management for AI & Data Science Course

4.3

(5,007)

The Complete Course for Becoming a Successful Product Manager in the Field of AI & Data Science...

16. Data Engineering - ETL, Web Scraping ,Big Data,SQL,Power BI

4.2

(300)

Hands on Data Interaction using - ETL, Web Scraping ,Big Data,SQL,Power BI...

17. Big Data for Managers

4.2

(1,263)

A foundation course for big data that covers the big data tools for various stages of a big data project and now chat GPT...

18. Data Warehouse - The Ultimate Guide

4.6

(4,246)

Master Data Warehousing, Dimensional Modeling & ETL process...

19. Basic of Clinical Data Management

4.5

(341)

Clinical Data Management...

20. Data Science- Project Management Methodology-CRISP-DM

4.3

(584)

End to End High Level Overview of Data Science & AI projects...

Top 10 most affordable universities for data management managers

The most affordable schools for data management managers are Baruch College of the City University of New York, brooklyn college of the city university of new york, and brigham young university.

If the best universities for data management managers are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for data management managers.

1. Baruch College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,262

Cost of attendance

14,046

2. Brooklyn College of the City University of New York

Brooklyn, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,240

Cost of attendance

13,991

3. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

4. California State University - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,749

Cost of attendance

14,823

5. Minot State University

Minot, ND • Private

In-state tuition

$7,064

Cost of attendance

15,576

6. University of South Florida

Tampa, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,410

Cost of attendance

20,456

7. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Cost of attendance

16,091

8. University of Washington

Seattle, WA • Private

In-state tuition

$11,207

Cost of attendance

25,275

9. Purdue University

West Lafayette, IN • Private

In-state tuition

$9,992

Cost of attendance

22,430

10. New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology

Socorro, NM • Private

In-state tuition

$7,770

Cost of attendance

21,244

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for data management managers

The hardest universities for data management managers to get into are Carnegie Mellon University, University of Pennsylvania, and Northwestern University.

Some great schools for data management managers are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for data management managers based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

Admissions rate

17%

SAT average

1,507

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,492

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,508

4. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,512

5. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

19%

SAT average

1,466

6. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

13%

SAT average

1,445

7. New York University

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

20%

SAT average

1,419

8. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

9. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions rate

11%

SAT average

1,513

10. Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, MO • Private

Admissions rate

15%

SAT average

1,506

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for data management managers

The easiest schools for data management managers to get into are Barry University, capitol technology university, and ottawa university.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a data management manager without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for data management managers.

1. Barry University

Miami, FL • Private

Admissions rate

91%

SAT average

1,006

2. Capitol Technology University

Laurel, MD • Private

Admissions rate

69%

SAT average

1,070

3. Ottawa University

Ottawa, KS • Private

Admissions rate

78%

SAT average

1,024

4. University of Baltimore

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions rate

78%

SAT average

1,020

5. Oklahoma Wesleyan University

Bartlesville, OK • Private

Admissions rate

68%

SAT average

964

6. Gwynedd Mercy University

Gwynedd Valley, PA • Private

Admissions rate

92%

SAT average

1,031

7. Thomas More University

Crestview Hills, KY • Private

Admissions rate

90%

SAT average

1,099

8. Chestnut Hill College

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

96%

SAT average

1,026

9. Felician University

Lodi, NJ • Private

Admissions rate

81%

SAT average

999

10. Washington Adventist Hospital

Takoma Park, MD • Private

Admissions rate

52%

SAT average

958

Average data management manager salary by education level

According to our data, data management managers with a Doctorate degree earn the highest average salary, at $135,969 annually. Data management managers with a Master's degree earn an average annual salary of $132,896.

Data management manager education level	Data management manager salary
Master's Degree	$132,896
Bachelor's Degree	$123,633
Doctorate Degree	$135,969
Some College/ Associate Degree	$101,091

Data management manager education FAQs

What is the best college for Data Management Managers?

Have more questions? See all answers to common executive management questions.

Search for data management manager jobs

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse executive management jobs