Alabama has 2 programs titled software engineering at 2 schools, 1 accredited by ABET, and 15 computer science programs. This guide covers each one, what it costs, and what software developers earn in the state.
Kevin ToFounder & Editor·B.S. in Computer Science, Temple University·Updated
Software engineering programs
2
titled software engineering
ABET-accredited
1
ABET’s list, 2026-09-30
Computer science programs
15
IPEDS 2024
Median pay, software developers
$122,540
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Key takeaways
01Alabama has 2 degrees titled software engineering, all bachelor’s, at 2 schools, plus 15 computer science programs. 1 of the software engineering programs is on ABET’s accredited list. Auburn ranks first among the state’s bachelor’s programs, with a score of 76.9 out of 100, #8 nationally. Each program below is checked against the school’s own page. They are Auburn’s bachelor’s and University of Mobile’s bachelor’s.
02At Alabama’s public schools, the median undergraduate tuition for 2023–24 was $9,675 in state and $22,225 out of state, so residency saves about $12,550 a year at the median. Private schools had a median of $21,637. These IPEDS figures are one per school and leave out fees, housing and financial aid.
03Software developers in Alabama earned a median of $122,540 in May 2025, against $135,980 nationally, and half earned between $86,990 and $154,290. The state employed 17,450 of them. Nationally, BLS projects the occupation to grow 10.2% from 2025 to 2035, against 3.5% for all occupations.
04Prices in Alabama were 11.2% below the national average in 2024, by the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s measure, and housing stood at 61.8 against a national 100. At national prices, the state’s developer median goes as far as about $138,000. BEA’s 2024 figures are its latest, a year behind the pay data.
05Neighboring states with programs titled software engineering: Florida (8), Georgia (4), Mississippi (1) and Tennessee (1). Each has its own guide with the same comparisons of programs, cost and pay, so a program across the state line can be weighed against one at home, keeping in mind that a public school charges nonresidents more.
This guide
Studying software engineering in Alabama
A degree titled software engineering puts design, testing and the management of large software projects at the center, where computer science centers on computation itself. Alabama offers both, and many software engineers hold either one.
What this page covers
Software engineering programs: the 2 bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Alabama titled software engineering, each checked against the school’s own page.
Computer science programs: the state’s 15 bachelor’s and master’s programs in computer science, from federal data.
Online programs: software engineering degrees from our rankings that can be completed online.
Not included: associate degrees, certificates, bootcamps, doctoral programs and degrees in related fields such as information technology.
Methodology
How we ranked these programs
Programs in Alabama are ranked against each other at the same degree level, highest score first. The score is out of 100 and comes from our national rankings, so a program carries the same score on every page of this site. It isn’t curved for Alabama: each factor is measured against fixed national standards, which is why even the strongest program here can sit well below 100.
The bachelor’s score
Auburn: #8 of 75 nationally
Auburn leads in Alabama with 76.9 out of 100
Across the country the median bachelor’s score is 56.7 and the highest is 87.0. Its biggest gap is cost, where it earns 10 of 25 points. Every scored program is in Best Bachelor’s in Software Engineering.
Scored factors
100 pts total
Cost25 pts
The school’s average net price after grants (IPEDS), in fixed dollar tiers.
Under $12,00025 pts
$12,000 to $15,99920 pts
$16,000 to $19,99915 pts
$20,000 to $24,99910 pts
$25,000 to $31,9995 pts
$32,000 or more0 pts
Completion35 pts
The school’s eight-year completion rate for all entering students (IPEDS Outcome Measures), as a share of the points.
ABET accreditation25 pts
Full points if the program is on ABET’s own accredited list, none if not.
Program size15 pts
Graduates a year, on a log scale that reaches full points at 100.
Each program is ranked against the others in Alabama at the same degree level, by the score our national rankings use. Tuition is IPEDS 2023–24; grad rate is the school’s. Full details for a ranked program are on its ranking page.
Bachelor’s
Master’s
Top 3 in Alabama
Not ranked
Bachelor’s in software engineering
2 programs
#1 in Alabama
76.9of 100
Auburn
Auburn, AL
BSCampus
In-state
$10,704
Out-of-state
$32,112
Completion
80%
✓ ABET-accredited
The only ABET-accredited bachelor’s program in Alabama
Auburn lays out its 122-hour software engineering degree semester by semester in the university bulletin. The first year pairs Calculus I and II with Fundamentals of Computing I and II. Sophomores take Software Construction and a one-credit Professional Development course in the fall and Introduction to Algorithms in the spring. Junior year covers principles of programming languages and computer organization and assembly language in the fall, then Software Modeling and Design and computer networks in the spring.
Seniors take Computer Architecture, Database Systems I and Secure Software Process in the fall, then a Senior Design Project, Software Quality Assurance and Computer Ethics in the spring. Technical electives take six hours of the senior fall and three of the spring. Math electives, technical electives and the core science sequence are chosen from department-approved lists, and students must consult with an academic advisor in the computer science and software engineering department when selecting them. The program is accredited by ABET’s Engineering Accreditation Commission.
#2 in Alabama
31.1of 100
University of Mobile
Mobile, AL
BSCampus
In-state
$24,580
Out-of-state
$24,580
Completion
51%
The University of Mobile offers a Bachelor of Science in Software Development through its College of Arts & Sciences. The program aims to give you a strategic understanding of the whole of new software development and experience with front-end, back-end, database, and network solutions. The major courses mix computing with business: Foundations of Software Development, Programming I and II, Programming and Specialized Topics, Web Development and Design, Project Management, and a Computer Information Systems Internship I. You also take accounting, business law, finance, marketing, management, business analytics, and macroeconomics and microeconomics, plus Introduction to Graphic Design, so the degree reads as a software major with a business core.
Alongside the major you complete general education courses in English, literature, Bible or Christian worldview, history, laboratory science, mathematics, and foreign language. You can add a graduate step through the Integrated 5-Year MBA, which ends with both the Bachelor of Science in Software Development and a Master of Business Administration after five years. Graduate courses in that track include Financial Management, Managerial Economics, and Data Analysis and Decision Modeling. The page lists careers such as software or web developer, cybersecurity consultant, database administrator, and computer programmer.
Compare
Alabama software engineering programs side by side
Alabama software engineering programs compared, by level
Tuition: IPEDS 2023–24, at the program’s level (a master’s figure is the school’s graduate average). Grad rate: the school’s six-year rate for bachelor’s students. Grads/yr: IPEDS, three-year average. ABET: ABET’s list, retrieved 2026-09-30. #: the program’s rank among Alabama’s ranked programs at its level; NR, not ranked. Score: out of 100, the same score as on the ranking pages.
Computer science
Computer science programs in Alabama
11 schools, 12 programs in the table below.
Computer science is the neighboring degree, and many software engineers hold it. These rows come from federal data, not from each school’s page.
Also offered: master’s at Tuskegee, University of Alabama in Huntsville and University of South Alabama.
Tuition: IPEDS 2023–24, in-state, before fees and aid; undergraduate for a bachelor’s, and for a master’s the school-wide average across graduate students, which excludes program fees. School grad rate: the school’s six-year rate for bachelor’s students (IPEDS); N/A on master’s rows, because federal data has no graduation rate for master’s programs. ABET: on ABET’s computing (CAC) or engineering (EAC) list, retrieved 2026-10-05; a blank cell means not accredited. A school is in the table when it has at least two of a tuition figure, a grad rate or ABET accreditation, and a program page we could link; the rest are listed under it. SE track: named on the school’s own page.
Cost
What it costs in Alabama
Public, in-state
$9,675
median of 6 schools
Public, out-of-state
$22,225
median of 6 schools
Private
$21,637
median of 6 schools
Living in Alabama is worth about $12,550 a year in tuition at the median public school, the gap between the two public medians. Over a four-year degree that is roughly $50,200, before any change in rates.
Prices in Alabama were 88.8 against a national 100 in 2024, and housing 61.8, by the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s Regional Price Parities. 2024 is BEA’s latest year, a year behind the May 2025 pay figures on this page.
Tuition: IPEDS 2023–24 undergraduate tuition, one figure per school, for the 12 schools with a bachelor’s program in this guide; a median needs at least 3 schools. Excludes fees, housing and aid. Prices: BEA Regional Price Parities by state, 2024, all items and housing services.
Job market
The software job market in Alabama
Alabama employed 17,450 software developers in May 2025. Its location quotient for the occupation is 0.76: the jobs are less concentrated in the state than nationally. Nationally, BLS projects software developer jobs to grow 10.2% from 2025 to 2035, against 3.5% for all occupations.
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Alabama. Location quotient: the state’s share of employment in the occupation divided by the national share (1.0 = the national rate). Growth: BLS Employment Projections, 2025-35, national.
Metro areas
Among the 50 largest U.S. metros, 1 is in Alabama. Software developer employment and pay in each:
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, metropolitan areas, May 2025, software developers. Metro areas are federal CBSAs and can cross state lines; only the 50 largest are on file.
Pay
What software developers earn in Alabama
$71,59010th
$86,99025th
$122,540median
$154,29075th
$175,33090th
Software developers, Alabama, BLS OEWS May 2025. National median: $135,980.
The state median is $122,540, $13,440 below the national $135,980. Half of the state’s software developers earn between $86,990 and $154,290.
BEA puts prices in Alabama at 88.8 against a national 100 (2024), so the median goes as far as $138,000 would nationally, $2,020 more than the national median.
BEA price parities, 2024; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Online options
Online software engineering degrees for Alabama residents
If no program in Alabama fits, these are the highest-scoring online programs in our rankings. Confirm with each school that it enrolls students living in Alabama.
Tuition: IPEDS 2023–24 out-of-state, the rate an online student from another state usually pays (a master’s figure is the school’s graduate average); a published rate is the school’s own price. National rank and score: our national ranking at the program’s level.
How many software engineering programs are in Alabama?
2 degrees titled software engineering, all bachelor’s, at 2 schools. 1 of them is on ABET’s accredited list.
What is the best software engineering school in Alabama?
Auburn ranks first of the 2 ranked bachelor’s programs in Alabama, with a score of 76.9 out of 100 (#8 nationally). The score combines completion, net price, ABET accreditation and program size.
Which software engineering programs in Alabama are ABET-accredited?
Auburn (bachelor’s), according to ABET’s accredited program list retrieved 2026-09-30.
How much does a software engineering degree cost in Alabama?
Across Alabama’s public schools in this guide, median undergraduate tuition for 2023–24 was $9,675 for residents and $22,225 for nonresidents; at private schools the median was $21,637. These IPEDS figures exclude fees and housing.
How much do software engineers make in Alabama?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that includes software engineers, earned a median of $122,540 in Alabama in May 2025. The 10th percentile was $71,590 and the 90th $175,330.
Is Alabama pay worth it after cost of living?
BEA puts Alabama’s prices at 88.8 against a national 100 in 2024. Divided by that, the developer median of $122,540 is worth about $138,000 at national prices.
Can Alabama residents take a software engineering degree online?
Yes. Kennesaw State, Minnesota-Crookston and University of Arizona are among the online software engineering programs in our rankings. Check with each school that it enrolls students living in Alabama.
2NCES IPEDS institutional charges, 2023–24Tuition at the program’s level, and undergraduate tuition per school for the cost medians. Excludes fees, housing and aid.
3NCES IPEDS graduation ratesThe school’s six-year graduation rate, for the whole school rather than the program; IPEDS DRVGR2023 where the main pull has no figure.
4Each school’s own program pageProgram name, delivery, credits, and every bullet on the program cards, quoted from the saved page. Read .
