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Changing work practices have increased demands for information technology (IT) skills within non-IT professions. Many employers want experience in desktop publishing, spreadsheets and Internet skills, in addition to the traditional areas of file management, word processing and databases. To investigate the IT skills currently being used in the workplace, a survey of four years of Bachelor of Arts (BA) graduates with a Computing Studies major from the University of Western Sydney, Macarthur, Australia, was undertaken. This paper proposes a re-thinking of computer literacy in BA degrees to a two-tier competence. It also seeks to promote discussion and debate on the integration of advanced IT skills into higher education, with a particular emphasis on BA degrees. Barriers to effective IT integration include technical issues, lack of training and incentives for staff, students' unpredictable skill level on entry to tertiary education and their access to resources. The discussion is limited to teaching and administrative careers, but the issues related to the integration of IT across discipline areas in higher education to satisfy the needs of the workplace are generic. If the IT skills demanded by employers are to be provided, then a higher priority needs to be placed on the IT skills of academic staff and on the integration of advanced IT skills across and within the teaching and learning framework for tertiary education students.