College Factual  by our College Data Analytics Team
       Unbiased Factual Guarantee

2024 Best Software Engineering Schools

74 Colleges in the United States
4,251 Computer Software Engineering Degrees Awarded
If you plan on majoring in software engineering, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #167 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual reviewed 74 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of software engineering. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 4,251 degrees in software engineering during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Software Engineering School

Best Software Engineering Schools The computer software engineering program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Software Engineering rankings. We derive our Best Overall Software Engineering School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Software Engineering Rankings by Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Computer Software Engineering
Bachelor's Degrees in Computer Software Engineering
Master's Degrees in Computer Software Engineering
Doctor's Degrees in Computer Software Engineering

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Software Engineering Schools list, to help you choose the best school for you. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

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. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.


 

Best Schools for Software Engineering in the United States

The schools below may not offer all types of computer software engineering degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

11 Top Schools in Computer Software Engineering

1
Harvard crest
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In MA
59 Computer Software Engineering Degrees Awarded

Any student who is interested in software engineering has to take a look at Harvard University. Harvard is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Cambridge. A Best Colleges rank of #6 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Harvard is a great university overall.

There were roughly 59 software engineering students who graduated with this degree at Harvard in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in software engineering from Harvard University

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In PA
144 Computer Software Engineering Degrees Awarded

Carnegie Mellon University is a wonderful choice for students interested in a degree in software engineering. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #9 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Carnegie Mellon is a great university overall.

There were roughly 144 software engineering students who graduated with this degree at Carnegie Mellon in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in software engineering from Carnegie Mellon University

3
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In IA
186 Computer Software Engineering Degrees Awarded

Any student who is interested in software engineering needs to look into Iowa State University. Located in the small city of Ames, Iowa State is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #75 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Iowa State is a great university overall.

There were roughly 186 software engineering students who graduated with this degree at Iowa State in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in software engineering from Iowa State University

4
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In IN

Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology is a great choice for students interested in a degree in software engineering. Located in the city of Terre Haute, Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

There were roughly 24 software engineering students who graduated with this degree at Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in software engineering from Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology

5
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In CA
109 Computer Software Engineering Degrees Awarded

UC Irvine is a fairly large public university located in the city of Irvine. A Best Colleges rank of #61 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UC Irvine is a great university overall.

There were roughly 109 software engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in software engineering from University of California - Irvine

6
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In CA
541 Computer Software Engineering Degrees Awarded

San Jose State is a very large public university located in the large city of San Jose. This university ranks 23rd out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 541 software engineering students who graduated with this degree at San Jose State in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in software engineering from San Jose State University

7
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In CA
61 Computer Software Engineering Degrees Awarded

Located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #95 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a great university overall.

There were approximately 61 software engineering students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in software engineering from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

8
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In MA
619 Computer Software Engineering Degrees Awarded

Northeastern is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Boston. A Best Colleges rank of #59 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Northeastern is a great university overall.

There were about 619 software engineering students who graduated with this degree at Northeastern in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in software engineering from Northeastern University

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In NJ
97 Computer Software Engineering Degrees Awarded

Stevens is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Hoboken. A Best Colleges rank of #64 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Stevens is a great school overall.

There were approximately 97 software engineering students who graduated with this degree at Stevens in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in software engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology

10
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In MI

Located in the remote town of Houghton, Michigan Tech is a public university with a moderately-sized student population. This university ranks 3rd out of 57 schools for overall quality in the state of Michigan.

There were approximately 16 software engineering students who graduated with this degree at Michigan Tech in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in software engineering from Michigan Technological University

11
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
5th Most Popular In TX
44.4% Growth in Graduates

Located in the suburb of Dallas, SMU is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #73 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means SMU is a great university overall.

There were approximately 9 software engineering students who graduated with this degree at SMU in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in software engineering from Southern Methodist University


 

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional great schools for Software Engineering students that almost earned our Best Software Engineering Schools award.

Rank College Location
12 Auburn University Auburn, AL
13 Tufts University Medford, MA
14 The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, TX
15 Villanova University Villanova, PA
16 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN
17 Drexel University Philadelphia, PA
18 Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL

Software Engineering by Region

View the Best Software Engineering 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

View All Rankings >

One of 3 majors within the Computer Engineering area of study, Software Engineering has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
General Computer Engineering 13,520
Other Computer Engineering 149
Computer Hardware Engineering 67

View All Computer Software Engineering Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

Popular Reports

College Rankings
Best by Location
Degree Guides by Major
Graduate Programs

Compare Your School Options