Data and Sources for 2027
Every figure on this site comes from one of the 26 sources below, 18 of them federal. Each page names the sources it uses and the release, and each program card shows the date its school’s page was checked.
How we use them
Four rules
- Published figures only. When a source doesn’t publish a figure, the page says so. Nothing is estimated or filled in from a neighbor.
- The school’s own page decides the degree. A program counts as software engineering or computer science only when the school’s page names it that way, and every quoted fact is checked against a saved copy of the page.
- Every figure carries its release. Pay is BLS’s May 2025 release, tuition is IPEDS 2023–24, and each page’s Sources list names the rest.
- One list. This page, the methodology and every page’s Sources list draw on the same list, and a build check fails if a page cites a source that isn’t on it.
Sources
Programs and schools
Which programs exist, what they cost, how many students finish, and what each school’s own pages say.
| Source | What we use it for | Release |
|---|---|---|
| IPEDS completions (NCES)National Center for Education Statistics | Which schools award a degree titled software engineering or computer science, at which level, and how many graduates a year (program size).NCES IPEDS completions C2022_A, C2023_A, C2024_A (award years 2021-22 to 2023-24), first major, the program’s CIP and award level | Award years 2021-22 to 2023-24 |
| IPEDS institutional characteristics (NCES)National Center for Education Statistics | The school’s 2021 Carnegie Classification, for the master’s research-activity factor.C21BASIC: R1, R2 and doctoral/professional universities. | HD2024 |
| IPEDS tuition (NCES)National Center for Education Statistics | Tuition at the program’s level: undergraduate for bachelor’s programs, the school-wide graduate average for master’s, and the out-of-state rate behind online programs without a published price.NCES IPEDS IC2023_AY, 2023-24: undergraduate tuition for bachelor’s programs; for master’s, the school-wide average graduate tuition, which excludes program fees | 2023–24 |
| IPEDS Outcome Measures (NCES)National Center for Education Statistics | Completion: the share of all entering undergraduates, part-time and transfer included, who earned an award within eight years. Scored for bachelor’s programs.School-wide, all entering students (cohort code 50), OMAWDP8. | OM2023 |
| IPEDS student financial aid (NCES)National Center for Education Statistics | Average net price: what aided first-time, full-time students pay after grants. The cost factor for campus bachelor’s programs.Public schools: in-state (NPIST2); private: NPGRN2. | 2022-23 (SFA2223) |
| College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education)U.S. Department of Education | School-wide median earnings ten years after entry (scored for online bachelor’s); field-of-study earnings and debt for computer science (shown on cards, not scored).Institution file MD_EARN_WNE_P10; field-of-study file EARN_MDN_1YR and DEBT_ALL_STGP_EVAL_MDN. | June 2026 release |
| IPEDS institutional data (NCES)National Center for Education Statistics | Six-year graduation rate (shown on state pages for context), admission rate, enrollment and control (public or private).School-wide figures: no federal source reports a graduation rate by major. | Retrieved 2026-09-30 |
| IPEDS distance education (NCES)National Center for Education Statistics | Whether a program can be completed entirely online, where the school’s own page doesn’t say.NCES IPEDS C2024DEP, programs offered entirely by distance education | 2023-24 |
| IPEDS institution directory (NCES)National Center for Education Statistics | Each campus’s location (latitude and longitude) and metro area.NCES IPEDS 2024 collection: C2024_A (completions 2023-24), C2024DEP (programs offered, distance education), HD2024 (institution directory, 2023 CBSA delineation) | HD2024 |
| Digest of Education Statistics, Appendix B: Definitions (NCES)National Center for Education Statistics | Definitions of the bachelor’s and master’s degree and their usual length, on the career guides. | 2022 edition |
| Each school’s own pagesThe schools | Degree title, delivery, credits, curriculum facts, published online prices and the program summaries, each quoted from a saved copy of the page.Every card shows the date its school’s page was checked. | Checked through 2026-10-02 |
Sources
Pay and jobs
What the jobs pay, where they are, how fast they grow and what they involve.
| Source | What we use it for | Release |
|---|---|---|
| BLS Occupational Employment and Wage StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | Employment, median pay and percentiles for software developers and related occupations, nationally, by state, by metro area and by industry; hourly pay and location quotients.Retrieved 2026-10-06; metro areas 2026-10-06. | May 2025 (states, national); May 2025 (metro areas) |
| BLS Employment ProjectionsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | Projected national job growth and openings by occupation, and the typical entry-level education, experience and training for each.BLS Employment Projections, 2025-35 | 2025-35 |
| BLS Occupational Outlook HandbookU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | The qualities and outlook BLS describes for software developers, quality assurance analysts and testers. | 2025-35 edition |
| O*NET OnLineU.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration | Tasks, job titles, skills, technology and the education survey of workers for the career guides. | Retrieved 2026-10-06 |
Sources
Accreditation and professional standards
Who accredits programs, what the curriculum standards say, and the state of licensing.
| Source | What we use it for | Release |
|---|---|---|
| ABET accredited program listABET | Which programs are accredited by ABET’s Engineering Accreditation Commission (software engineering) or its Computing or Engineering commissions (computer science). A school’s own claim is not counted.ABET Accredited Program Search, public API GetExportProgramsByName, countries=US, current programs, retrieved 2026-09-30 | Retrieved 2026-09-30 |
| ABET, Criteria for Accrediting Engineering ProgramsABET | The math and science minimums and the software engineering program criteria behind the “Is software engineering hard?” guide. | 2026-2027 |
| ABET, Why ABET Accreditation MattersABET | Accreditation and its role in licensure, registration and certification. | Read 2026-10-01 |
| NCEES, discontinuing the PE Software Engineering examNational Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying | That the professional engineering exam in software engineering was last given in April 2019. | Read 2026-10-05 |
| SE2014: Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Software EngineeringACM and IEEE Computer Society | What a software engineering degree is expected to cover. | 2014 (current edition) |
| CS2023: Computer Science CurriculaACM, IEEE Computer Society and AAAI | The computer science core, for comparing the two degrees. | 2023 |
| Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK Guide)IEEE Computer Society | The definition of software engineering and its knowledge areas. | Version 4.0 |
Sources
Places
City limits, metro areas, local prices and local employers.
| Source | What we use it for | Release |
|---|---|---|
| County Business Patterns (U.S. Census Bureau)U.S. Census Bureau | Establishments, employment and payroll in the industries that hire software developers, by metro area, on the city pages.U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, metropolitan areas and United States (cbp23msa, cbp23us) | 2023 |
| BEA Regional Price ParitiesU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis | How prices in a state or metro area compare with the national average, used for the price-adjusted pay line.U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities by State (SARPP); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities by Metropolitan Area (MARPP). Retrieved 2026-10-02. | 2024 |
| Census TIGER place boundariesU.S. Census Bureau | Whether a campus is inside a city’s limits, through the Census Geocoder.IPEDS HD2024 LATITUDE/LONGITUD; Census Geocoder (TIGER Incorporated Places, Public_AR_Current / Current_Current). Retrieved 2026-10-02. | Current TIGER (Public_AR_Current) |
| Census population estimatesU.S. Census Bureau | Which metro areas get a city page: the 50 most populous.U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates, CBSA totals, POPESTIMATE2024 | 2024 (POPESTIMATE2024) |
How these sources become a score, including the weights and what we leave out, is on the methodology page.