IT Network Systems Administration Associate Degree

Looking to find yourself in a job where every day is different? Like fast-paced problem solving? Ready to marry your people skills with your love of all things tech? Madison College’s Network Systems Administration associate degree will set you up to support an organization in all their technical needs.

With competitive salaries and job opportunities exceeding most IT positions across the state and nationally, Network Systems Administration remains a high-demand field.

Whether you’re looking to start, advance or change your career, this program will give you the training to help you reach your goals. No advanced skills needed—just basic computer knowledge and a passion for learning.

Associate Degree Program Goals

In the Network Systems Administration program, you’ll get experience installing, configuring and managing servers in a virtual environment. You’ll also promote servers to be domain controllers, create and manage resources in Active Directory, use Group Policy, and configure DNS and DHCP. And because working smarter is better than working harder, you’ll learn to write scripts and manage and automate on-premises and cloud-based infrastructure.

What Skills Do I Need?

We’ll teach you the technical skills to manage and support technical demands, but a successful network systems administrator is also:

A Critical Thinker

You like puzzles and games in which figuring out one challenge gets you to the next challenge. Instead of an instruction manual, you prefer a toolkit. You know how to combine past experience, problem solving skills, research and a bit of intuition to find solutions. 

Even-Tempered

You are not easily rattled and you see something going wrong as a challenge rather than a problem. You can keep your head when others are losing theirs. 

Self-Motivated

You show up ready to dig in and don’t need to wait to be told what to do. Even when you’re unsure, you know how to look for answers and engage your peers in collaboration. 

Flexible

Much of network systems administration is fixing broken tech. So, sometimes you’ll need to settle for a quick fix and sometimes you will need to work to find long-term solutions. The ability to be responsive to the need of the moment in a way that makes sense is key to keeping everything and everyone working smoothly. 

A Good Communicator

You’ll need to be able to communicate, verbally and in writing, in both technical and simple terms, what went wrong and how to stop it from happening again. Much of this work is like customer service, so people in this field must not only be good with computers but also with people.

The associate degree curriculum is designed to help you hone these skills.

Real-world, Hands-on Learning

Network Systems Administration classes are held in lab environments, so you get hands-on experience in every class. You’ll use Madison College’s state-of-the-art online lab environment to simulate the infrastructures various industries and tech companies actually use. That same lab is available to you 24/7 from any computer. All you need is internet connection to do your work from anywhere.

Madison College IT program students start coding on Day One.

Core classes teach technical skills in:

First Year

You’ll learn how systems work and are built.

• Windows and Linux operating system
• Cisco networking
• Cloud systems

Second Year

With the knowledge of systems fundamentals, you’ll learn how they can break and be put back together, but better.

• Python and PowerShell scripting
• Documentation
• Automation

Final Semester Internship

In addition to coursework, you will complete an internship with one of our industry partners. If you are already working full-time, you will have the option of a project. With this real-world opportunity, upon graduation you will have not only the knowledge but also the experience to enter the workforce with the confidence that employers notice.

Flexible Course Offerings

Students in the Network Systems Administration program can attend full or part time.

The core classes unique to the Network Systems Administration program are offered only online or during the day.

Network Systems Administration classes are offered at our Madison Truax campus.

If you start this program in the spring semester it may take 5 semesters to complete and classes are only offered in the daytime or online.