College Life

Private Schools That Are Well Known for This Major

• University of Pennsylvania
• Johns Hopkins University
• Northwestern University
• Seattle University
• University of Scranton
• DePaul University

State Schools That Are Well Known for This Major

• University of Virginia
• University of Missouri
• University of Maryland
• Washington State University

Classes in the Major

Computer Science. If you're going to make your living with computers, it's probably a good idea to know how they work. Just yelling, "Money!" at your laptop doesn't work. Trust us. We've tried. Here, you're going to learn all the basics of computer programming so you can show these machines who's boss when the time comes. Because this is a sort of overview course, you're going to learn more than just things that specifically pertain to e-commerce. This means you'll have a solid foundation of basic computer knowledge to work with, even if you decide e-commerce isn't for you.

Web Design. If the Internet is like a network of streets, then websites are like storefronts. These are the places people stop to gather information, products, and more before venturing back into the perfect chaos that is the Internet. Needless to say, web design is pretty important in this day and age. No one wants to buy anything from a website that looks terrible or confuses them, and if you can't get customers to stick around, you'll be in big trouble. In web design classes, though, you'll learn how to design sites that are both appealing to look at and easy to use. So pay attention. Our advice? Comic sans is never okay.

Marketing. The Internet has opened up commerce like nothing else in human history; pretty much everyone has a chance to sell things to anyone else these days. There's a downside to this, though: There's an incredible amount of noise because so many people are trying to hawk their wares. So if you're going to make money with e-commerce, you're going to need to know how to make your voice ring out so people notice you. This is where marketing comes in.

Human Resource Management. Humans? What? You thought that just because this was e-commerce, you were going to work entirely with robots, huh? Well, maybe in the future, but for now, you're going to work with humans. This means you need to understand how to manage these wild animals. In human resource management courses, you'll learn how to best utilize, well, human resources, so you can run your team as efficiently as possible…at least, until you can hire an entire workforce of robots.

Communication. At its heart, the Internet's purpose is communication. And yes, this includes pictures of cats, but it also includes the sharing of information…and this is key to commerce. From ad copy to customer satisfaction surveys to how a company articulates who it is and what it stands for, communication pops up constantly. Communication classes are here to make sure you don't have to put your foot in your mouth. Just like a good message will be carried far and wide, a simple misunderstanding will, too.