Memphis, TN (population: 662,989) has four information assurance schools within a 100-mile radius of its city center. University of Memphis, the highest ranked school in this group with an information assurance program, has a total student population of 21,424. It is the 404th highest ranked school in the USA and one of the highest in the state .
Information Assurance students from Memphis schools who go on to become information assurance specialists, computer security specialists, database administrators, computer and information scientists, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 26,130 people working as computer and information scientists, research alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $105,370. Also, Medical records and health information technicians make on average $33,880 per year and there are about 170,580 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the Memphis-MS-AR area alone, there are 840 employed medical records and health information technicians earning an average salary of $30,890. Computer and information scientists, research in this area earn $95,870/yr and there are 30 employed.
Memphis lies in Shelby county, which is one of the 26 counties in Tennessee. Overall, the Memphis-MS-AR area has 605,630 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 1.2% unemployment rate, $18.93/hr average worker wage, and a $39,380 average annual salary. Thus, about 0.051 out of every 1000 jobs in Memphis are held by computer and information scientists, research, and 1.393/1000 are held by medical records and health information technicians.
Of the 4 information assurance schools with a 100-mile radius of Memphis, only 1 has a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, ITT Technical Institute-Cordova comes out as the most expensive ($22,206/yr) for information assurance students, with Northwest Mississippi Community College as the lowest, reported at only $2,877/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Memphis |
| Southaven | MS | 47,625 | 1 | 27.9087 | 11 | 9.7 miles |
| Bartlett | TN | 47,744 | 0 | - | 0 | 12.3 miles |
| Senatobia | MS | - | 1 | 17.4796 | 114 | 34.1 miles |
| Jonesboro | AR | 66,734 | 1 | 24.4204 | 8 | 62.3 miles |
| State University | AR | - | 1 | 57.8251 | 135 | 63.1 miles |