Difference between computer engineering and information technology?

There are likely three choices you should be considering: Computer engineering, information technology, and computer science. Broadly speaking computer engineering focuses on hardware development, computer science focuses on software development, and IT focuses on running production systems that somebody else has built. Computer science and computer engineering are more technical degrees and are usually seen as higher value. They are also usually harder work to obtain and are somewhat interchangeable in what jobs you can qualify for. IT usually contains business focused classes as well as some of the lighter technical classes and is a good fit for people who want to make more career impact with soft skills vs. hard skills.

In general it's what you do after school that counts the most. My degree was business/IT focused and I now work in a very technically demanding job role. Success/failure in an academic setting often doesn't translate well to success/failure on the job.

Computer engineering usually refers to actually programming or designing hardware whereas IT is just maintaining and setting up computer systems. IT tasks range from helping people print and use their computer to managing mail servers for a company. Programmers generally make a lot more per year and are faced with challenges on a daily basis. If your son enjoys new problems and has some creativity, programming is the way to go. If he enjoys learning something and doing it over and over IT is the path.

Finding other programmers at the university and talking to them is a great way to figure out what is best.

As far as education goes the computer engineer will study BOTH electrical engineering and computer science making them fluent in both worlds. The it user may learn some programming (through some computer science classes) but will work on different protocols that make up IT systems (different tools like scripting or TCIP or network configurations). In my opinion if you are given the choice and you have a strong background and don't mind the math involved go for the Computer Engineering program as the possibilities after college are much much more broad the IT.

Some of the difference in terms of education will depend on the school. At the University of Michigan, there are only 8 credits difference between a Computer Engineering degree from the School of Engineering and a Computer Science degree from the School of Literature, Science & Arts. The 8 credits difference are just a requirement difference between the 2 schools. Both degrees let you specialize into computer related niches like robotics, artificial intelligence, computer hardware engineering, software engineering, etc. And students in the two degrees take all their computer-related courses together at the School of Engineering. There were other differences in the schools, like access to other services and networks, so I chose Computer Engineering with a software engineering focus.

In some other universities the differences between CompEng and CompSci will be much bigger -- typically CompEng will focus more on hardware and CompSci will focus more on software. When you look at schools, I would recommend looking at both degrees and ask about what the differences are at the specific school.

Information Technology typically has to do with the organization and management of systems and information. For example, what systems, hardware, processes and resources will be needed for the company to host their own websites?

If you're not sure about which might interest you, I'd recommend trying to get some internships in different technology positions to see what you like.

Read up on each of the fields you are interested in. Discover the job titles in those fields and educate yourself on the responsibilities those jobs you may be attracted to. If you know anyone working in computer or IT fields, see if they will talk to you about their experience. That would help you understand what the real-life experiences are for those people. Myself, I never did complete a degree but found my own way into database management. Yes, no college degree meant many lost opportunities, in the beginning, due to lack of a degree. But as time goes on your experience can be used in lieu of a degree. My path was not clear nor easy. I did many other computer related jobs prior to finding my opportunity for database work. I earn more than most programmers, however, money should not be the point. Find what you have passion for, that you can really dig into and enjoy what you are doing. Investigate! The money will come after. Don't be afraid to make a decision. Once you enter a field, you will probably see many opportunities to change your career path if you are not happy with what you are doing.
My avatar image Guy Stewart

In times gone by, information technology was sometimes called "IS" or "MIS". The terms change but in general, it expands beyond computers and may include phone systems or other systems which are critical to the business. In terms of how all the listings here interact, in general I have found it important to know a little bit of everything because you need to know what you are asking engineering to code if you are building or implementing a system.