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2024 Best Computer Science Doctor's Degree Schools

95 Colleges in the United States
1,252 Doctor's Degrees
$112,216 Avg Early-Career Salary
Ranked #23 in popularity, computer science is one of the most sought-after doctor's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

College Factual reviewed 95 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for doctor's degree seekers in the field of computer science. Combined, these schools handed out 1,252 doctor's degrees in computer science to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

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

Best Computer Science Doctor's Degree Schools The compsci doctor'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

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we consider a school's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their doctor's degree from the school. After all, your doctor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

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

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More CompSci Rankings Other Ranking Categories

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Computer Science Doctor's Degree Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.


 

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Computer Science in the United States

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor'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.

14 Top Schools for a Doctorate in CompSci

1
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
36 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a doctor's degree in computer science has to take a look at Stanford University. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in computer science from Stanford University

2
49 Annual Graduates

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a good choice for students interested in a doctor'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 doctorate in computer science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology

3
Harvard crest
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
14 Annual Graduates

Harvard University is a great choice for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in computer science. Located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in computer science from Harvard University

4
51 Annual Graduates

University of California - Berkeley is a great decision for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in computer science. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in computer science from University of California - Berkeley

5
30 Annual Graduates

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

6
25 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in computer science from Cornell University

7
Brown crest
Brown University
Providence, RI
11 Annual Graduates

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

8
Duke crest
Duke University
Durham, NC
8 Annual Graduates

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

9
21 Annual Graduates

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

10
52 Annual Graduates

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

11
27 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 doctorate in computer science from University of Southern California

12
Dartmouth crest
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH
9 Annual Graduates

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

13
22 Annual Graduates

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

14
Vanderbilt crest
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN
6 Annual Graduates

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


 

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 Doctor's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
15 Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO
16 University of Maryland - College Park College Park, MD
17 University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA
18 Northwestern University Evanston, IL
19 Georgetown University Washington, DC
20 Purdue University - Main Campus West Lafayette, IN
21 Emory University Atlanta, GA
22 Tufts University Medford, MA
23 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN

Computer Science by Region

View the Best Computer Science Doctor'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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One of 10 majors within the Computer & Information Sciences area of study, Computer Science has other similar majors worth exploring.

CompSci Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Computer Science 1,252

Related Major Annual Graduates
Computer Information Systems 984
Information Science 194
Information Technology 121
Other Computer & Information Sciences 20
Computer Software & Applications 9
Data Processing 2
Computer Systems Analysis 2

Notes and References

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