2023 Best Computer Science Master's Degree Schools
Finding the Best Computer Science Master's Degree 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.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Computer Science Master's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 215 schools in the United States to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. The factors used to develop this ranking include those related to how in-demand the school is, the overall quality of the school, and post-graduation wages, and more.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools in the United States
The following schools top our list of the Best Computer Science Master's Degree Colleges.
Top 25 Top Schools for a Master's in Computer Science
Our 2023 rankings named Stanford University the best school in the United States for computer science students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at Brown University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best computer science schools in the United States. Located in the medium-sized city of Providence, Brown is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at Massachusetts Institute of Technology helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best computer science schools in the United States. Located in the city of Cambridge, MIT is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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Out of the 215 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Cornell University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Cornell is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Ithaca.
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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means University of Pennsylvania is a great place for computer science students working on their master’s degree. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.
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Duke University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree computer science programs. Duke is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Durham.
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Carnegie Mellon University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for computer science students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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Harvard University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for computer science students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Harvard is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Cambridge.
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools ranking. UIUC is a very large public school located in the small city of Champaign.
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Dartmouth College ranked #10 on this year’s Best Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools list. Dartmouth is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the town of Hanover.
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University of California - Berkeley did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for computer science students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #11 on the list. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Berkeley.
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Vanderbilt University ranked #12 on this year’s Best Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools list. Vanderbilt is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Nashville.
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University of Washington - Tacoma Campus came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools ranking. UW Tacoma is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Tacoma.
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Saint Martin’s University came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Lacey, Saint Martin's is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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University of Washington - Seattle Campus came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public college with a fairly large student population.
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Villanova University came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Villanova is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Villanova.
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Southern Methodist University landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree computer science programs. SMU is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Dallas.
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Georgetown University ranked #18 on this year’s Best Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Washington, Georgetown is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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With a ranking of #19, University of California - San Diego did quite well on this year’s best schools for computer science students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public college with a fairly large student population.
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Northwestern University landed the #20 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree computer science programs. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Evanston.
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University of Maryland - College Park came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the suburb of College Park, UMCP is a public school with a fairly large student population.
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Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Atlanta, Georgia Tech is a public school with a fairly large student population.
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Tufts University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for computer science students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #23 on the list. Located in the suburb of Medford, Tufts is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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University of Chicago landed the #24 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree computer science programs. Located in the city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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Columbia University in the City of New York ranked #25 on this year’s Best Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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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 Master's Degree Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 33 | Washington University in St Louis | Saint Louis, MO |
| 34 | University of California - Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara, CA |
| 35 | Wake Forest University | Winston-Salem, NC |
| 36 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill, NC |
| 37 | Emory University | Atlanta, GA |
| 38 | Colorado School of Mines | Golden, CO |
| 39 | North Carolina State University | Raleigh, NC |
| 40 | Boston University | Boston, MA |
| 41 | Case Western Reserve University | Cleveland, OH |
| 42 | Seattle University | Seattle, WA |
| 43 | Stevens Institute of Technology | Hoboken, NJ |
Computer Science by Region
View the Best Computer Science Master's Degree 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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