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2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

There are about 144,819 students enrolled in Computer Science in the USA.

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popularity

Very Popular

Compared to national avg.

Diplomas received last year

60,082

Vs. National Avg.

280%

popularity Rank

#24

cost

Somewhat Affordable

Compared to national avg.

Median degree cost

$26K

Vs. National Avg.

7%

cost Rank

#223

salary

Below Average

Compared to national avg.

Average Salary Two Years Out of School

$42K

Vs. National Avg.

4%

salary Rank

#215

professors

Below Average

Compared to national avg.

Professor Rating

C+

Vs. National Avg.

3%

professors Rank

#210

students

Average

Compared to national avg.

Diversity Rating

B-

Vs. National Avg.

3%

students Rank

#191

SUMMARY

A degree in Computer Science is a valuable choice and generally a necessary first step for pupils hoping to enter a career as a software developer, an offensive cyber security analyst, or a front end developer. In fact, computer science is an extremely popular degree choice, coming in at the 19th most popular major. Last year, there were 31,737 computer science graduates. In-state tuition for computer science at private institutions is, on average, 4.1 times more spendy than their public rivals.

There are 664 schools that offer computer science. This number of institutions is on par with other majors offered in the United States. If you're looking to immerse yourself with other computer science undergrads, consider looking at colleges in California which have more undergraduates admitted to computer science than any other state. Zooming out, the best region to major in computer science is in the Far West region with University of California-Berkeley, University of California-Irvine, and Oregon State University best representing the region. Interestingly, our selection for the best conference to study computer science is the Pacific-12 Conference with Arizona State University-Tempe, University of California-Berkeley, and Oregon State University representing the conference. Based on our comprehensive list on the best colleges, our choice for the best school for computer science is Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The overall best school does not have to be the 'best' school for every student. There are a bunch of factors to weigh when choosing college. Things such as campus amenities, transportation services, and food might definitely alter one's thoughts on which college to attend. Here at Authority, we have weighed the pros and cons for you. If, for example, you want to know which computer science university is home to the top campus, the answer is Harvard University. If you are primarily interested in which school has the finest campus, we have a whole page dedicated to that. We have carefully pored through student reviews, government databases, professor reviews, and more so we can compare every major in the United States in an unbiased and informative way. You can explore our well researched list for the schools with the best student life&nbsphere and, from that list, our selection for the school with the best student life for computer science is Cornell University. Are you curious why? Keep scrolling to find out more about our top recommendations. Many of our decisions will probably surprise you.

If cost is a significant factor in your choice of where you attend university, you might consider avoiding Columbia University in the City of New York. Columbia University in the City of New York&nbspappears to be our most expensive college for computer science, at least for out of state attendance. We do have a page for the most expensive&nbspschools that could put the price tag of Columbia University in the City of New York&nbspinto perspective. You could also care to know that computer science is the 30th most expensive major in America, with an average associated cost of $52,300. To zoom out a little, the most costly state for computer science in the nation is Vermont with tuition and fees at the primary three colleges equalling $41,728 at Champlain College, adding up to $55,790 at Middlebury College, and costs of $55,790 at Landmark College. Even more broadly, the most expensive region of the country for computer science is the New England region which is best demonstrated with Amherst College with a cost of $57,640, Tufts University with a cost of $57,324, and Landmark College with a cost of $59,100.

Our cheapest region for computer science is the Rocky Mountains region which is represented by Brigham Young University-Idaho with a cost of $4,208, Brigham Young University-Provo with a cost of $5,790, and Western Governors University with a cost of $6,380. In better news, the most affordable college for computer science is Purdue University-Main Campus. Authority.org's full list of the most affordable schools can be explored here.

In-state learners can anticipate paying about $9,700 for a degree in computer science. The price balloons by a lot to a median of $22,600 for an out-of-state public-school undergraduate. Our selection for the college with the best value for computer science: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Here you can find our comprehensive list of the schools we believe to be the best value&nbspoverall. Bear in mind, this discussion is based on being an out-of-state student. The value proposition changes when in-state tuition is considered, but as we do not know what state(s) you might qualify for in-state tuition, we are approaching this discussion through out-of-state tuition costs.

Earnings for computer science majors vary a lot, but two-years after graduation students will often earn around $64,200. While there can be a lot of variation in earnings; highest paid earners can enjoy pay up to $109,500. Even right out of school, the lowest earning opportunities within the computer science field earn $38,000, which could be worse. The top earning graduates from computer science studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology&nbspand if you are looking for schools with all of the highest earning graduates, we have that too.

The overall diversity of computer science sits quite high, ranking within the 91st percentile of all majors. The college with the highest composite diversity for computer science is Massachusetts Institute of Technology&nbspand here you can find our general list of the colleges with the most diversity. The overall financial diversity of the Computer Science major only is in the 50th percentile of all majors. Racial diversity is greater than financial diversity, in the 93rd percentile. Students who are not white, black, latino, or asian compose the largest proportion at 37% of those majoring in computer science. Additionally, 77% of scholars seeking a computer science degree are men.

The median rating of computer science professors is 3.8 stars, a rating that is 5% worse than the median score across all majors; this is a subpar score. If you are looking for the most popular computer science instructor nationally, look no further than Michael Rahni at Los Angeles Valley College. This might be shocking, but the highest ranked professors for computer science by student are at Southeastern Louisiana University. If we consider data beyond basic rankings it becomes clear that the college possessing comprehensively the best professors for computer science is Massachusetts Institute of Technology. You will find an explanation of our ever evolving ranking methodology for the best overall professors here, as well as some of the top examples of professors in the U.S.

Finally, the most difficult university to get into for computer science is Stanford University. While we do not necessarily see the value in it, we have a general list of the hardest colleges to get into. That being said, here at Authority we hope you believe that considering the higher education world through a lens mainly informed by superlatives could be said to be the root of many of higher education's fundamental issues. We at Authority hope you read our more focused pages on individual colleges and read a few of our insightful background pages on important things to consider as you continue your college search.

Top 25 Best Colleges for Computer Science

Search for the best Computer Science colleges according to your filter parameters.

A+

Rating

#1 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, CA | www.caltech.edu/

7%

Acceptance

2,319

Students

#9

Ranking

$57K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#2 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

Stanford University

Stanford, CA | www.stanford.edu/

5%

Acceptance

20,961

Students

#2

Ranking

$56K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#3 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA | web.mit.edu/

7%

Acceptance

12,195

Students

#1

Ranking

$53K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#4 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus

Atlanta, GA | www.gatech.edu/

21%

Acceptance

43,217

Students

#42

Ranking

$34K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#5 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA | www.harvard.edu/

5%

Acceptance

41,024

Students

#3

Ranking

$54K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#6 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA | www.cmu.edu/

17%

Acceptance

15,567

Students

#21

Ranking

$59K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#7 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

Duke University

Durham, NC | www.duke.edu/

8%

Acceptance

17,855

Students

#6

Ranking

$58K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#8 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

Brown University

Providence, RI | www.brown.edu/

8%

Acceptance

10,807

Students

#13

Ranking

$61K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#9 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ | www.princeton.edu/

6%

Acceptance

8,532

Students

#5

Ranking

$49K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#10 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

Yale University

New Haven, CT | https://www.yale.edu/

7%

Acceptance

14,910

Students

#8

Ranking

$58K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#11 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY | www.columbia.edu/

7%

Acceptance

33,882

Students

#10

Ranking

$62K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#12 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI | https://umich.edu/

26%

Acceptance

49,530

Students

#33

Ranking

$52K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#13 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA | www.upenn.edu/

9%

Acceptance

30,688

Students

#7

Ranking

$60K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#14 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY | www.cornell.edu/

11%

Acceptance

24,594

Students

#14

Ranking

$59K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#15 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL | www.uchicago.edu/

7%

Acceptance

20,413

Students

#11

Ranking

$61K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#16 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

Rice University

Houston, TX | www.rice.edu/

11%

Acceptance

8,005

Students

#22

Ranking

$51K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#17 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD | www.jhu.edu/

11%

Acceptance

34,250

Students

#4

Ranking

$54K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#18 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

Harvey Mudd College

Claremont, CA | https://www.hmc.edu/

18%

Acceptance

1,132

Students

#20

Ranking

$59K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#19 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

University of Virginia-Main Campus

Charlottesville, VA | https://www.virginia.edu/

23%

Acceptance

29,237

Students

#38

Ranking

$53K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#20 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA | www.usc.edu/

16%

Acceptance

52,376

Students

#28

Ranking

$60K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#21 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH | www.dartmouth.edu/

9%

Acceptance

7,171

Students

#15

Ranking

$60K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#22 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

Tufts University

Medford, MA | https://www.tufts.edu/

16%

Acceptance

13,458

Students

#37

Ranking

$61K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#23 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

University of California-Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA | www.ucla.edu/

14%

Acceptance

46,947

Students

#50

Ranking

$43K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#24 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL | www.northwestern.edu/

9%

Acceptance

25,870

Students

#12

Ranking

$59K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#25 2024 Best Colleges for Computer Science

Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, MO | www.wustl.edu/

16%

Acceptance

17,893

Students

#18

Ranking

$57K

Tuition

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