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2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Computer Software Engineering Major

7 Ranked Colleges
16 Degrees Awarded
$36,400 Avg Cost*
Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Computer Software Engineering Major

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Computer Software Engineering Major” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

In 2020-2021, 4,251 people earned their degree in software engineering, making the major the 167th most popular in the United States.

At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 16 software engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $75,260 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Computer Software Engineering Major” ranking, we looked at 7 colleges that offer a degree in software engineering. That schools that top this list have a program in software engineering in which the largest percentage of students at the school are enrolled.

Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

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The computer software engineering school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Computer Software Engineering Major”.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Computer Software Engineering Major

The colleges and universities below are the best for doctor’s degree computer software engineering students.

Top 7 Most Focused Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Software Engineering

1

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Merced. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Computer Software Engineering Major list. UC Merced is a medium-sized public school situated in Merced, California. It awarded 6 doctorate’s computer software engineering degrees in 2020-2021.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.8% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read more about Software Engineering at UC Merced

2

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend North Dakota State University - Main Campus. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Computer Software Engineering Major list. North Dakota State University - Main Campus is a fairly large school located in Fargo, North Dakota that handed out 5 doctorate’s computer software engineering degrees in 2020-2021.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Software Engineering at North Dakota State University - Main Campus

3
Carnegie Mellon crest
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Carnegie Mellon University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Computer Software Engineering Major list. Carnegie Mellon University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It awarded 4 doctorate’s computer software engineering degrees in 2020-2021.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

Read more about Software Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University

4

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend The University of Texas at Dallas. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Computer Software Engineering Major list. Located in Richardson, Texas, this large public school awarded 1 degrees to qualified doctorate’s computer software engineering students in 2020-2021.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 90%.

Read more about Software Engineering at UT Dallas

5
Naval Postgraduate School crest
Naval Postgraduate School
Monterey, California

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Naval Postgraduate School. The school came in at #5 for the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Computer Software Engineering Major. Naval Postgraduate School is a public institution located in Monterey, California. The school has a small population, and it awarded 0 doctorate’s degrees in 2020-2021.

Full Naval Postgraduate School Software Engineering Report

5

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Southern Methodist University. The school came in at #5 for the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Computer Software Engineering Major. SMU is a fairly large school located in Dallas, Texas that handed out 9 doctorate’s computer software engineering degrees in 2020-2021.

With a freshman retention rate of 90%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.1% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Full SMU Software Engineering Report

5

Out of the 7 schools in the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Computer Software Engineering Major that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Irvine landed the #5 spot on the list. University of California - Irvine is located in Irvine, California and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 109 doctorate’s computer software engineering degrees to qualified students.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full University of California - Irvine Software Engineering Report

Notes and References

References

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

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