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2024 Best Computer Science Master's Degree Schools

203 Colleges in the United States
14,364 Master's Degrees
Computer Science is of the hottest master's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #10 most popular major in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 203 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Computer Science Master's Degree Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 14,364 master's degrees in computer science during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Computer Science School for Your Master's Degree

Best Computer Science Master's Degree Schools The computer science master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we consider a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a host of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for computer science students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Computer Science Rankings Other Ranking Categories

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Computer Science Master's Degree Schools list, to help you choose the best school for you.


 

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Computer Science in the United States

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in computer science. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

25 Top Schools for a Master's in Computer Science

1
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
332 Annual Graduates

Stanford University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in computer science. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in computer science from Stanford University

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
250 Annual Graduates

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a great choice for individuals pursuing a master's degree in computer science. MIT is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Cambridge.More information about a master’s in computer science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology

3
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
91 Annual Graduates

University of Pennsylvania is a good decision for students pursuing a master's degree in computer science. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia.More information about a master’s in computer science from University of Pennsylvania

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
231 Annual Graduates

Cornell University is a great option for individuals pursuing a master's degree in computer science. Located in the small city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in computer science from Cornell University

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
500 Annual Graduates

Columbia is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York.More information about a master’s in computer science from Columbia University in the City of New York

6
Harvard crest
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
35 Annual Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in computer science from Harvard University

7
Brown crest
Brown University
Providence, RI
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
95 Annual Graduates

Brown is a large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Providence.More information about a master’s in computer science from Brown University

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
187 Annual Graduates

UChicago is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago.More information about a master’s in computer science from University of Chicago

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
63 Annual Graduates

Carnegie Mellon is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Pittsburgh.More information about a master’s in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
543 Annual Graduates

UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Champaign.More information about a master’s in computer science from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

11
Duke crest
Duke University
Durham, NC
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
51 Annual Graduates

Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Durham.More information about a master’s in computer science from Duke University

12
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1,066 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in computer science from University of Southern California

13
Vanderbilt crest
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
26 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in computer science from Vanderbilt University

14
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
106 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in computer science from Northwestern University

15
Dartmouth crest
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
23 Annual Graduates

Located in the town of Hanover, Dartmouth is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in computer science from Dartmouth College

16
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
78 Annual Graduates

WUSTL is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Saint Louis.More information about a master’s in computer science from Washington University in St Louis

17
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
308 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in computer science from University of California - San Diego

18
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
8 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in computer science from University of California - Berkeley

19
Georgetown crest
Georgetown University
Washington, DC
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
34 Annual Graduates

Georgetown is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Washington.More information about a master’s in computer science from Georgetown University

20
Tufts crest
Tufts University
Medford, MA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
51 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Medford, Tufts is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in computer science from Tufts University

21
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
266 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Hoboken, Stevens is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in computer science from Stevens Institute of Technology

22
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
174 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Washington, GWU is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in computer science from George Washington University

23
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
70 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in computer science from Purdue University - Main Campus

24
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
68 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Worcester, WPI is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in computer science from Worcester Polytechnic Institute

25
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
90 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of College Park, UMCP is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in computer science from University of Maryland - College Park

Rest of the Top Best Computer Science Master's Degree Schools

26
27
Boston U crest
Boston University
Boston, MA
28
29
30

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Computer Science Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
31 Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX
32 Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH
33 University of Washington - Seattle Campus Seattle, WA
34 Emory University Atlanta, GA
35 University of California - Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA
36 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC
37 University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst, MA
38 Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO
39 Brandeis University Waltham, MA
40 North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC

Computer Science by Region

View the Best Computer Science Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

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Computer Science is one of 0 different types of Computer Science programs to choose from.

Notes and References

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