College of Applied and Technical Studies
www.kent.edu/cats

About This Program

Join the fast-growing field of IT with Kent State's B.S.I.T. program. This program equips you with the skills needed to succeed in a range of IT roles, from software engineering to data analytics. With hands-on experience and expert faculty, you'll be well-prepared for a successful career. Read more...

Contact Information

• Shelley Marshall | skmarsha@kent.edu | 440-964-4348
• Speak with an Advisor
• Chat with an Admissions Counselor

Program Delivery

• Delivery:
  • Fully online

Examples of Possible Careers and Salaries*

^{* Source of occupation titles and labor data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook. Data comprises projected percent change in employment over the next 10 years; nation-wide employment numbers; and the yearly median wage at which half of the workers in the occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less.}

Admission Requirements

The university affirmatively strives to provide educational opportunities and access to students with varied backgrounds, those with special talents and adult students.

First-Year Students on the Kent Campus: First-year admission policy on the Kent Campus is selective. Admission decisions are based upon cumulative grade point average, strength of high school college preparatory curriculum and grade trends. Students not admissible to the Kent Campus may be administratively referred to one of the seven regional campuses to begin their college coursework. For more information, visit the admissions website for first-year students.

First-Year Students on the Regional Campuses: First-year admission to Kent State’s campuses at Ashtabula, East Liverpool, Geauga, Salem, Stark, Trumbull and Tuscarawas, as well as the Twinsburg Academic Center, is open to anyone with a high school diploma or its equivalent. For more information on admissions, contact the Regional Campuses admissions offices.

International Students: All international students must provide proof of proficiency of the English language (unless they meet specific exceptions) through the submission of an English language proficiency test score or by completing English language classes at Kent State’s English as a Second Language Center before entering their program. For more information, visit the admissions website for international students.

Former Students: Former Kent State students who have not attended another institution since Kent State and were not academically dismissed will complete the re-enrollment process through the Financial, Billing and Enrollment Center. Former students who attended another college or university since leaving Kent State must apply for admissions as a transfer or post-undergraduate student.

Transfer Students: Students who attended an educational institution after graduating from high school or earning their GED must apply as transfer students. For more information, visit the admissions website for transfer students.

Admission policies for undergraduate students may be found in the University Catalog's Academic Policies.

Students may be required to meet certain criteria to progress in their program. Any progression requirements will be listed on the program's Coursework tab

Program Requirements

Major Requirements

¹

Minimum C grade required to satisfy the writing-intensive requirement.

²

Students may earn up to 6 credits for IT 21095.  IT 36095 and may be repeated for credit when the topic changes.

³

A minimum C grade must be earned to fulfill the writing-intensive requirement.

⁴

If students complete the American Civic Literacy requirement by taking HIST 12061, the course will apply to the Kent Core Humanities category. If they complete it with POL 10101, the course will apply to the Kent Core Social Sciences category.

Application Development Concentration Requirements

Cloud and Virtualization Technologies Concentration Requirements

Cybersecurity and Forensics Concentration Requirements

Database Design and Administration Concentration Requirements

Health Information Technology Concentration Requirements

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Students may repeat IT 36396 for a maximum of 6 credit hours toward the concentration.

Integrated Information Concentration Requirements

Networking Concentration Requirements

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Students may repeat IT 36396 for a maximum of 6 credit hours toward the concentration.

Web Development Concentration Requirements

Graduation Requirements

• Students may declare more than one concentration in the Information Technology major, provided that they complete minimum 12 credit hours of coursework unique to each concentration.

Roadmap

This roadmap is a recommended semester-by-semester plan of study for this program. Students will work with their advisor to develop a sequence based on their academic goals and history. Courses designated as critical (!) must be completed in the semester listed to ensure a timely graduation.

University Requirements

All students in a bachelor's degree program at Kent State University must complete the following university requirements for graduation.

NOTE: University requirements may be fulfilled in this program by specific course requirements. Please see Program Requirements for details.

Kent Core Requirements

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of this program will be able to:

1. Analyze emerging and existing information technologies and design integrated IT solutions that address individual, organizational, and societal needs.
2. Manage and optimize IT infrastructures, applications, and services to meet requirements for performance, reliability, security, and scalability.
3. Communicate and collaborate effectively as a member or leader of multidisciplinary teams, using appropriate documentation, standards, and project management practices to deliver IT initiatives.
4. Apply professional, ethical, legal, and social principles, and engage in research and lifelong learning, to guide the responsible adoption, governance, and evaluation of information technologies.
5. Exhibit career readiness by curating a professional portfolio of authentic IT artifacts, experiential learning evidence, and reflections that showcase technical proficiency, impact, and readiness for employment or advancement.

Full Description

The Bachelor of Science in Information Technology provides an applied, hands-on education focused on supporting end users and organizations across a variety of workplace settings. Students learn to administer computing and network infrastructures; develop desktop, web and mobile applications; integrate databases and data-driven interfaces; and build and deploy solutions in modern cloud environments. Foundational coursework includes project management and collaboration practices and an introduction to relational databases. Across the curriculum, students also learn when and how to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools responsibly for tasks like code assistance, documentation, testing, data analysis and troubleshooting.

Graduates are prepared for roles across business, education, manufacturing, healthcare, non-profit, and government, including web or software developer; systems, network or cloud administrator; cybersecurity or digital forensics analyst; database administrator; IT support specialist or consultant; and IT project coordinator or manager.

The Information Technology major offers concentrations in Application Development, Cloud and Virtualization Technologies, Cybersecurity and Forensics, Database Design and Administration, Health Information Technology, Integrated Information Technology, Networking (including systems administration) and Web Development.

The Information Technology major comprises the following concentrations:

• The Application Development concentration prepares students to design and build software for desktop, web, and mobile; apply testing and deployment practices; incorporate AI thoughtfully for code review, refactoring and documentation.
• The Cloud and Virtualization Technologies concentration prepares students to plan, deploy, and administer virtualized and cloud resources; use automation and scripting; learn when to apply AI for documentation and capacity insights.
• The Cybersecurity and Forensics concentration prepares students to secure systems and networks and support digital investigations; practice incident response and evidence handling; leverage AI carefully for monitoring, logging, triage and reporting.
• The Database Design and Administration concentration prepares students to design, implement, secure, and administer relational databases; write SQL for queries and reporting; explore AI-assisted query drafting and documentation with verification.
• The Health Information Technology concentration prepares students to manage and secure IT systems in healthcare environments, including EHR support and compliance; discuss responsible AI uses in documentation and data review with privacy safeguards.
• The Integrated Information Technology concentration allows students to create a flexible plan spanning multiple IT domains tailored to career goals; encourages cross-functional projects and measured use of AI tools across disciplines.
• The Networking concentration prepares students to plan, configure, and maintain network infrastructures across on-prem and cloud; practice systems administration, identity, and security hardening; introduce AI-assisted monitoring where appropriate.
• The Web Development concentration prepares students to create dynamic, data-driven web applications with client- and server-side frameworks, APIs and deployment practices; evaluate AI for design ideation, code review and content drafts.