Computer Science and IT Bursaries South Africa.

There is a great skills shortage in the Computer Science/ IT industry, both within South Africa and the rest of the world, but according to payscale.com (who rank job types according to the earning potential), employees in the computer science industry have some of the top median salaries of any other job niches.

If you think you can bridge the gap in this sparse market but lack the funding to carry out your studies, why not apply to one of the bursary programmes below.

COMPUTER ENGINEERING BURSARIES

Computer engineering is the integration of computer science and several fields of electrical engineering to develop computer software and hardware. Computer engineering involves many aspects of computer software and hardware such as circuit design, microprocessors, microcontrollers, personal computers and supercomputers.
Computer engineers earn around R500 000 per annum depending on years working experience.

COMPUTER SCIENCE BURSARIES

Computer science studies the engineering, theory and experimentation that is the foundation for the design of computers. A computer scientists job entails conducting research to create new computer technology, which ultimately helps problem solving in many fields.
Salaries in the computer science field range from around R250 000 to R315 000 per annum, for software developers and software engineers respectively.

GRAPHIC DESIGN & GAME GRAPHIC BURSARIES

Graphic designers are responsible for the creation of illustrations, typography and photography to communication visually and problem solve. Graphic designers create ideas and messages by way of combining symbols, images and text.
The average salary of a graphic designer is around R120 000 per annum, while senior graphic designers can earn an income of around R215 000 per annum.

INFORMATICS & INFORMATION SYSTEMS BURSARIES

Informatics involves information processing and engineering of information systems. Informatics is the science of computer information systems and information; it also entails interactions between people and information.
Information systems on the other hand, study the systems specifically related to information and software and hardware networks used to collect, filter, process, create and distribute data.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BURSARIES

Information technology (also known as “IT”) is the use of computers and the internet to transmit, store, retrieve and edit data or information. Information technology is a branch of Information and Communication Technology (also known as “ICT”).
Average salaries in the IT industry include R660 000 for software developers, R110 000 for test analysts and R472 000 for web developers.

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY BURSARIES

Information and Communication Technology (also known as “ICT”) is an extension of the IT field, with the aim of unified communication and integration of computers, telecommunications, audio-visual systems, software and middleware to allow people to store, edit, access and transmit information.
Salaries in this field are in line with the IT sector.

MULTIMEDIA & INTERACTIVE MEDIA BURSARIES

Multimedia is a field that combines various forms of content (such as images, text, audio, video, animation and interactive content).
While interactive media encompasses products and services on computer systems, that responds to actions by the presentation of text, audio, animation, moving images and videos.
Multimedia Designers earn an average of R160 000 per annum depending on their experience.

SOFTWARE ENGINEERING & SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT BURSARIES

Software engineering (also known as “SWE”) is the process of engineering to the development, design, testing, maintenance and implementation of software in a systematic way.
Software development involves bug fixing, testing, documenting and computer programming to create and maintain software products.
Software engineers/ programmers/ developers earn an average of R260 000 per annum, while software developers earn an average of R265 000 per annum.