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Computer & math

Database administrators

Typically requires Bachelor's degree

What is this page & how do I use it?

This is a research report for one career — the kind an analyst would write for a stock. The rating at the top is the neutral baseline (same for everyone); below it come the cases for and against, how the last official forecast for this career actually aged, and what the education path costs and pays.

How to use it: read the bulls-vs-bears case, then hit Score this career to weigh it against your other options with your own interests factored in.

CareerStar rating
RiskyHigh uncertainty

Analyst take: Decent prospects — -0.7% projected growth, high AI exposure (94/100).

35
/ 100
low riskhigh
top row = high reward

Moat (borrowed from investing — the water that defends a castle): how shielded this career is from AI. None = broadly exposed — many of its tasks are automatable and its skills are widely shared. (Exposure ≠ job loss; see the bears below.)

The small grid is a style box (borrowed from Morningstar’s fund reports): the blue square places this career on reward (top row = high) versus risk (left column = low), against all 730 careers. High uncertainty means the score leans heavily on forward-looking bets (mostly AI exposure) that history can't confirm yet.

🐂 Bulls say
  • +High pay — above 90% of careers ($104,620).
🐻 Bears say
  • High AI exposure — 94% of tasks are model-touchable (exposure ≠ job loss).
  • Projected to shrink (-0.7%).
Was this rating fair?
Projected growth
-0.7%
Median pay
$104,620
AI exposure
94/100
share of tasks exposed to AI — not job loss

Education & ROI — how to get here

Real outcomes for the college majors that feed this occupation, across 1,665 bachelor’s programs.

Median earnings
$53,068
1 year after graduating
Typical debt
$25,969
median federal debt
Pay-to-debt
2.0×
first-year pay ÷ debt
Feeder majors
Computer and Information SciencesComputer/Information Technology Services Administration and ManagementComputer Software and Media Applications
Selective schools offering these majors
Harvard University
MA · 4% admit rate
$85,540/yr
$101,817 grad pay
Yale University
CT · 4% admit rate
$88,300/yr
$100,533 grad pay
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MA · 5% admit rate
$82,730/yr
$143,372 grad pay
Northeastern University
MA · 5% admit rate
$84,641/yr
$92,538 grad pay
Brown University
RI · 5% admit rate
$87,648/yr
$93,487 grad pay
University of Pennsylvania
PA · 5% admit rate
$89,028/yr
$111,371 grad pay

Earnings & debt from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard; majors mapped to this occupation via the NCES CIP→SOC crosswalk. A grounded ROI snapshot, not a guarantee — pay varies widely by school and specialty.

What this work involves

technologymathprogramming