Do you need a degree for IT? What the government's data says
What US government data says about getting IT jobs without a degree: which roles have the most people without one, and where those jobs lead.
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TL;DR
- About 50% of support specialists and 47% of sysadmins working in the US have no bachelor's degree, per BLS data for 2023 to 24.
- Even in higher-paid roles like network architect, more than 4 in 10 workers got there without a bachelor's.
- BLS names certifications plus a high school diploma as a way into support work, and support as a springboard into security, sysadmin and developer jobs.
No, a bachelor's degree isn't required for most entry-level IT work, and the US government's own job data backs that up across almost every corner of IT.
Among help desk and network support specialists, more people stopped at "some college, no degree" (23.4%) than hold a master's or doctorate combined (13.4%).
About 1 in 5 computer network architects (20.9%) started college and never finished a degree.
BLS expects about 48,700 openings a year for computer support specialists, on average, over the next decade.
#What the numbers say
Every year the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes Table 5.3, which takes Census survey answers from workers aged 25 and older and breaks each job down by the highest level of school those workers finished. The current version covers 2023 and 2024, and the chart below adds up everyone in each IT job who stopped before a bachelor's, whether that's a high school diploma, some college, or an associate's degree.
IT workers without a bachelor's degree
For your information
BLS reports help desk (user support) and network support specialists as one combined group in this table, so the top bar covers both the people answering tickets and the people keeping the network running.
#What BLS says it takes to get in
The Occupational Outlook Handbook says candidates for help desk and network support jobs may qualify with a high school diploma plus relevant IT certifications, and that help desk jobs call for some computer knowledge but not necessarily a college degree. For sysadmins the handbook lists a bachelor's as the typical path, which makes the sysadmin bar in the chart above all the more striking. BLS also notes that employers may want certifications in the specific products they run.
#Help desk is a starting point, not a ceiling
Help desk and network support are a natural way in, and BLS says many computer support specialists move up into other IT positions, naming information security analyst, network and computer systems administrator and software developer as examples. Some move into managing the support team instead. The pay jump along the way is big: support specialists earned a median of $62,890 in 2025, while the three jobs BLS names as next steps each pay a median of about $99,000 or more.
- Systems administrator: $99,130 median pay.
- Network architect: $134,050 median pay, usually after 5 or more years in a related job.
- Information security analyst: $129,180 median pay.
- Software developer: $134,040 median pay. It's the job in the chart where a degree is most common.
For your information
BLS lists a bachelor's degree as the typical way into each of these higher-paying jobs, and it notes that some large software companies want one even for support roles. The numbers above show that plenty of people get there anyway, and starting in support is the route BLS itself describes.
#How to get into IT without a degree
- Certifications that match the job, which BLS names as a route into support work alongside a high school diploma. CertPrep+ has practice for 12 certs from CompTIA, AWS, Microsoft and ISC2, including A+, Network+ and Security+, so you can prep for yours right here.
- Hands-on proof, such as a home lab, troubleshooting write-ups or projects that show the skills a hiring manager is looking for.
- Starting in support and moving up, which is the advancement path BLS describes for help desk workers.
What IT jobs can you get without a degree?
Can I move up from help desk without going back to school?
Where did these figures come from?
Sources