Data manager education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a data manager. Data managers usually study business, computer science, or psychology. 62% of data managers hold a bachelor's degree, and 16% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 7,177 real data manager resumes to see exactly what data manager education sections show.

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

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

There are certain data manager certifications that you should consider. These data manager certifications include Certified Clinical Research Professional (CCRP) and Project Management Professional (PMP).

What education do you need to become a data manager?

What degree do you need to be a data manager?

The most common degree for data managers is bachelor's degree, with 62% of data managers earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are master's degree degree at 16% and master's degree degree at 12%.

Bachelor's, 62%

Master's, 16%

Associate, 12%

High School Diploma, 4%

Other Degrees, 6%

What should I major in to become a data manager?

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

Business, 25%

Computer Science, 9%

Psychology, 9%

Biology, 6%

Other Majors, 51%

Most common colleges for data managers

Data managers often get their degrees at University of Phoenix, University of Maryland - College Park, and University of Pittsburgh. Here are the most common colleges for data managers in the US based on their resumes.

Data manager common college	Percentages
University of Phoenix	14.81%
University of Maryland - College Park	7.23%
University of Pittsburgh	5.64%
University of North Carolina at Greensboro	5.29%
University of Illinois at Chicago	5.29%

Show more common data manager colleges

Best majors for data managers

Rank	Major	Percentages
1	Business	25.3%
2	Computer Science	8.9%
3	Psychology	8.8%
4	Biology	6.4%
5	Accounting	5.5%

Show more common data manager majors

Best colleges for data managers

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

A data 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 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 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 managers

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3. Basic of Clinical Data Management

4.5

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4. Fundamentals of Data Analysis for Big Data

4.5

(270)

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

5. 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...

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

4.4

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

7. Statistics / Data Analysis: Survey Data and Likert Scales

4.6

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How to Process Survey Data and Analyze Likert Scales In SPSS...

8. Complete Data Wrangling & Data Visualisation With Python

4.4

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9. The Data Science Course: Complete Data Science Bootcamp 2023

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13. 4x1 Data Management/Governance/Security/Ethics Masterclass

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14. The Simplest Guide to Clinical Trials Data Analysis with SAS

4.4

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Step into the world of Pharmaceutical industry Clinical Trials Clinical Research Biostatistics Clinical SAS SAS...

15. Big Data for Managers

4.2

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

16. Statistics / Data Analysis in SPSS: Inferential Statistics

4.7

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17. Streaming Big Data with Spark Streaming and Scala

4.7

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Spark Streaming tutorial covering Spark Structured Streaming, Kafka integration, and streaming big data in real-time...

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

4.7

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

19. 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...

20. Core Spatial Data Analysis: Introductory GIS with R and QGIS

4.4

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Become Proficient In Spatial Data Analysis Using R & QGIS By Working On A Real Project - Get A Job In Spatial Data!...

Top 10 most affordable universities for data managers

The most affordable schools for data 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 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 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 managers

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

Some great schools for data 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 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 managers

The easiest schools for data 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 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 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 manager salary by education level

According to our data, data managers with a Doctorate degree earn the highest average salary, at $123,995 annually. Data managers with a Master's degree earn an average annual salary of $121,102.

Data manager education level	Data manager salary
Master's Degree	$121,102
Bachelor's Degree	$112,395
Doctorate Degree	$123,995
Some College/ Associate Degree	$91,299

Data manager education FAQs

What is the best college for Data Managers?

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

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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

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