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Most Popular Computer Science Master's Degree Schools

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2023 Most Popular Computer Science Master's Degree Schools

274 Colleges
$99,796 Avg Salary

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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Most Popular Computer Science Master's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 274 schools in the United States to see which master's degree programs were the most popular for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Computer Science program at each school on the list.

The colleges and universities below are the most popular for compsci majors pursuing a master's degree.

Our analysis found University of Southern California to be the most popular school for computer science students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the United States. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 31% of the compsci majors at the school.

Full Computer Science at University of Southern California Report

Out of the 274 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the # 2 spot on the list. UIUC is a fairly large public school located in the city of Champaign.

Of the 543 students majoring in compsci at UIUC, 80% are male and 20% are female.

Read full report on Computer Science at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The in-demand master’s degree programs at Columbia University in the City of New York helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular computer science schools in the United States. Located in the large city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

About 32% of the students majoring in compsci at the school are women while 68% are male.

Read full report on Computer Science at Columbia University in the City of New York

Out of the 274 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Arizona State University - Tempe landed the # 4 spot on the list. ASU - Tempe is a fairly large public school located in the city of Tempe.

About 25% of the students majoring in compsci at the school are women while 75% are male.

Read More…

#5

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Stanford University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Popular Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

About 29% of the students majoring in compsci at the school are women while 71% are male.

Read full report on Computer Science at Stanford University

#6

Stony Brook University

Stony Brook, NY

Stony Brook University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree computer science programs. SUNY Stony Brook is a very large public school located in the suburb of Stony Brook.

Women make up 23% of the compsci majors at the school.

Read full report on Computer Science at Stony Brook University

University of Central Missouri came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the distant town of Warrensburg, UCM is a public school with a large student population.

Women make up 52% of the compsci majors at the school.

Full Computer Science at University of Central Missouri Report

With a ranking of #8, University of California - San Diego did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for computer science students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public school with a very large student population.

Women make up 27% of the compsci majors at the school.

Read More…

Maharishi International University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the remote town of Fairfield, MIU is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Of the 289 students majoring in compsci at MIU, 88% are male and 12% are female.

Full Computer Science at Maharishi International University Report

Stevens Institute of Technology came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the suburb of Hoboken, Stevens is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

About 21% of the students majoring in compsci at the school are women while 79% are male.

Full Computer Science at Stevens Institute of Technology Report

University of Massachusetts Amherst landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree computer science programs. UMass Amherst is a very large public school located in the suburb of Amherst.

About 25% of the students majoring in compsci at the school are women while 75% are male.

Read More…

North Carolina State University landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree computer science programs. NC State is a very large public school located in the large city of Raleigh.

Women make up 27% of the compsci majors at the school.

Read More…

Massachusetts Institute of Technology did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for computer science students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #13 on the list. Located in the city of Cambridge, MIT is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Of the 250 students majoring in compsci at MIT, 60% are male and 40% are female.

Full Computer Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Report

University of North Carolina at Charlotte ranked #14 on this year’s Most Popular Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools list. UNC Charlotte is a fairly large public school located in the city of Charlotte.

Of the 247 students majoring in compsci at UNC Charlotte, 70% are male and 30% are female.

Full Computer Science at University of North Carolina at Charlotte Report

#15

University of Dayton

Dayton, OH

University of Dayton landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree computer science programs. UDayton is a large private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Dayton.

About 34% of the students majoring in compsci at the school are women while 66% are male.

Full Computer Science at University of Dayton Report

#16

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

Cornell University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for computer science students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #16 on the list. Cornell is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Ithaca.

About 29% of the students majoring in compsci at the school are women while 71% are male.

Full Computer Science at Cornell University Report

With a ranking of #17, Illinois Institute of Technology did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for computer science students working on their master’s degree. Illinois Tech is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

Of the 213 students majoring in compsci at Illinois Tech, 73% are male and 27% are female.

Read full report on Computer Science at Illinois Institute of Technology

#18

Binghamton University

Vestal, NY

With a ranking of #18, Binghamton University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for computer science students working on their master’s degree. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Vestal, Binghamton University is a public college with a fairly large student population.

About 25% of the students majoring in compsci at the school are women while 75% are male.

Full Computer Science at Binghamton University Report

#19

Boston University

Boston, MA

Boston University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for computer science students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #19 on the list. Boston U is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Boston.

About 21% of the students majoring in compsci at the school are women while 79% are male.

Full Computer Science at Boston University Report

#20

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

University of Chicago landed the #20 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular 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.

Of the 187 students majoring in compsci at UChicago, 81% are male and 19% are female.

Full Computer Science at University of Chicago Report

Rochester Institute of Technology did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for computer science students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #21 on the list. RIT is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Rochester.

About 21% of the students majoring in compsci at the school are women while 79% are male.

Read More…

Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Atlanta, Georgia Tech is a public college with a very large student population.

Of the 174 students majoring in compsci at Georgia Tech, 56% are male and 44% are female.

Full Computer Science at Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus Report

#22

George Washington University

Washington, DC

George Washington University ranked #22 on this year’s Most Popular Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Washington, GWU is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

About 20% of the students majoring in compsci at the school are women while 80% are male.

Full Computer Science at George Washington University Report

University of California - Irvine landed the #24 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree computer science programs. UC Irvine is a very large public school located in the large city of Irvine.

About 24% of the students majoring in compsci at the school are women while 76% are male.

Read More…

Colorado Technical University - Colorado Springs ranked #25 on this year’s Most Popular Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools list. Colorado Technical University - Colorado Springs is a very large private for-profit school located in the city of Colorado Springs.

About 42% of the students majoring in compsci at the school are women while 58% are male.

Read full report on Computer Science at Colorado Technical University - Colorado Springs

#30

Pace University - New York

New York, NY
#32

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL
#35

Oregon State University

Corvallis, OR
#38

Brown University

Providence, RI
#40

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also popular but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Most Popular Computer Science Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
42 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN
42 California State University - Fullerton Fullerton, CA
44 Indiana University - Bloomington Bloomington, IN
45 Portland State University Portland, OR
46 San Diego State University San Diego, CA
47 California State University - Long Beach Long Beach, CA
48 Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO
48 California State University - East Bay Hayward, CA
50 Governors State University University Park, IL
51 University of California - Davis Davis, CA
52 University of Maryland - Baltimore County Baltimore, MD
52 Purdue University - Main Campus West Lafayette, IN
54 Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA

Computer Science by Region

View the Most Popular 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

One of 10 majors within the area of study, computer science has other similar majors worth exploring.

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.

  • 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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