2023 Best Computer Science Schools
Finding the Best Computer Science School for You
Computer Science is the #12 most popular major in the country with 59,565 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.
There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Computer Science Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 433 schools in the United States to see which programs offered the best educational experiences for students.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Computer Science Schools in the United States
The colleges and universities below are the best for compsci majors pursuing a .
Top 25 Top Schools in Computer Science
Our 2023 rankings named California Institute of Technology the best school in the United States for computer science students. Located in the medium-sized city of Pasadena, Caltech is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Harvey Mudd College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Computer Science Schools list. Located in the suburb of Claremont, Harvey Mudd College is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.
On average, compsci graduates from Harvey Mudd College take out $21,250 in student loans while working on their degree.
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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Stanford University is a great place for computer science students. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
CompSci majors at Stanford take out an average of $13,645 in student loans while working on their egree.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Brown University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Computer Science Schools list. Located in the midsize city of Providence, Brown is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
On average, compsci graduates from Brown take out $13,000 in student loans while working on their degree.
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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a great place for computer science students. Located in the midsize city of Cambridge, MIT is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
The average amount in student loans that compsci majors at MIT take out is $10,538. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $682, based on a 10-year repayment plan.
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Cornell University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Computer Science Schools ranking. Cornell is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Ithaca.
After completing their degree, compsci graduates from Cornell carry an average student debtload of $15,003. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $524, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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Pomona College landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best computer science programs. Pomona is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Claremont.
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With a ranking of #8, Duke University did quite well on this year’s best schools for computer science students. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Durham.
CompSci majors at Duke take out an average of $11,950 in student loans while working on their egree. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $581.
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With a ranking of #9, Carnegie Mellon University did quite well on this year’s best schools for computer science students. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
On average, compsci graduates from Carnegie Mellon take out $21,456 in student loans while working on their degree.
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With a ranking of #10, Williams College did quite well on this year’s best schools for computer science students. Located in the fringe town of Williamstown, Williams is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
The average amount in student loans that compsci majors at Williams take out is $13,134.
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University of Pennsylvania landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best computer science programs. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.
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University of California - Berkeley came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Computer Science Schools ranking. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Berkeley.
After completing their degree, compsci graduates from UC Berkeley carry an average student debtload of $14,203. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $386.
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With a ranking of #13, Bunker Hill Community College did quite well on this year’s best schools for computer science students. BHCC is a moderately-sized public school located in the large city of Boston.
The average amount in student loans that compsci majors at BHCC take out is $7,452.
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Harvard University landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best computer science programs. Harvard is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge.
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Dartmouth College landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best computer science programs. Dartmouth is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the remote town of Hanover.
On average, compsci graduates from Dartmouth take out $20,000 in student loans while working on their degree.
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Vanderbilt University came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Computer Science Schools ranking. Vanderbilt is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Nashville.
On average, compsci graduates from Vanderbilt take out $19,563 in student loans while working on their degree.
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Computer Science Schools ranking. UIUC is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Champaign.
CompSci majors at UIUC take out an average of $18,500 in student loans while working on their egree. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $477, based on a 10-year repayment plan.
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Florida Polytechnic University came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Best Computer Science Schools ranking. Florida Poly is a small public school located in the rural area of Lakeland.
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Saint Martin’s University ranked #19 on this year’s Best Computer Science Schools list. Located in the city of Lacey, Saint Martin's is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
While working on their degree, compsci majors at Saint Martin's accumulate an average of around $15,622 in student debt.
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Amherst College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for computer science students. It came in at #20 on the list. Located in the suburb of Amherst, Amherst is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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With a ranking of #21, Lake Area Technical Institute did quite well on this year’s best schools for computer science students. Located in the remote town of Watertown, LATI is a public college with a small student population.
CompSci majors at LATI take out an average of $14,250 in student loans while working on their egree.
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University of Washington - Tacoma Campus ranked #22 on this year’s Best Computer Science Schools list. UW Tacoma is a medium-sized public school located in the medium-sized city of Tacoma.
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Colgate University ranked #23 on this year’s Best Computer Science Schools list. Colgate is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Hamilton.
After completing their degree, compsci graduates from Colgate carry an average student debtload of $17,500.
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University of Maryland - College Park ranked #24 on this year’s Best Computer Science Schools list. Located in the large suburb of College Park, UMCP is a public school with a very large student population.
CompSci majors at UMCP take out an average of $21,500 in student loans while working on their egree. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $307.
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University of Washington - Seattle Campus landed the #25 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best computer science programs. Located in the large city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public college with a very large student population.
After completing their degree, compsci graduates from UW Seattle carry an average student debtload of $16,220. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $218.
Read full report on Computer Science at University of Washington - Seattle Campus
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Additional Award Winners
This section represents the remainder of the schools awarded a Best Computer Science Schools badge. Showing in this list means the school was ranked in the top 15% of the 433 different United States computer science schools we analyzed.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 51 | University of California - Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara, CA |
| 52 | Wake Forest University | Winston-Salem, NC |
| 53 | Bellevue College | Bellevue, WA |
| 54 | Collin County Community College District | McKinney, TX |
| 55 | Normandale Community College | Bloomington, MN |
| 56 | Colorado School of Mines | Golden, CO |
| 57 | Saint Johns University | Collegeville, MN |
| 58 | DePauw University | Greencastle, IN |
| 59 | George Washington University | Washington, DC |
| 60 | Southern Methodist University | Dallas, TX |
| 61 | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | Troy, NY |
| 62 | St Olaf College | Northfield, MN |
| 63 | Emory University | Atlanta, GA |
| 64 | University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point | Stevens Point, WI |
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 Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 65 | Seattle University | Seattle, WA |
| 66 | William & Mary | Williamsburg, VA |
| 67 | University of California - Irvine | Irvine, CA |
| 68 | Case Western Reserve University | Cleveland, OH |
| 69 | North Carolina State University | Raleigh, NC |
| 70 | Michigan Technological University | Houghton, MI |
| 71 | University of Minnesota - Twin Cities | Minneapolis, MN |
| 72 | Gonzaga University | Spokane, WA |
| 73 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Worcester, MA |
| 74 | University of St Thomas Minnesota | Saint Paul, MN |
| 75 | Saint Cloud State University | Saint Cloud, MN |
| 76 | University of Georgia | Athens, GA |
| 77 | Boston University | Boston, MA |
| 78 | North Hennepin Community College | Brooklyn Park, MN |
| 79 | Ivy Tech Community College | Indianapolis, IN |
| 80 | Grantham University | Lenexa, KS |
| 81 | Stevens Institute of Technology | Hoboken, NJ |
| 82 | Brigham Young University - Provo | Provo, UT |
| 83 | Luther College | Decorah, IA |
| 84 | University of Portland | Portland, OR |
| 85 | University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus | Pittsburgh, PA |
| 86 | Brandeis University | Waltham, MA |
Computer Science by Region
View the Best Computer Science Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More Computer Science Rankings
Computer Science Related Rankings by Major
One of 10 majors within the area of study, computer science has other similar majors worth exploring.
Most Popular Related Majors
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Computer Information Systems | 88,434 |
| Information Technology | 40,555 |
| Information Science | 18,325 |
| Computer Systems Networking | 14,700 |
| Computer Software & Applications | 14,336 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to Negative Space.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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