What's the difference between IT, CS, and IS?

One question that students ask is “Why should I major in Information Technology (IT)? Aren’t the Computer Science (CS) and Information Systems (IS) majors better known in industry? Historically, the term Information Technology was—and continues to be—used as a catch all term that refers to any field of study even remotely related to computers. However, more recently, the IT major became more narrowly defined. It now forms a well-defined field of study, distinct from CS and IT.

Whereas the field of CS studies theoretical issues and the field of IS studies business processes that use information systems, IT bridges the gap between CS and IS. In CS, the goal is to learn to program and write code that implements algorithms. On the other hand, in IT the goal is to write scripts that work with existing software systems to solve problems. IT majors must have the ability to analyze user needs and take them into account when software is evaluated, purchased, and configured.

While some IT majors take programming jobs, many more will take jobs that focus on using such software in installation and configuration. Because IT majors are exposed to a variety of current software technologies, they are ideal for maintaining software at a small, medium, or large company.