Software Engineering and Computer Science Degrees in Arkansas for 2027
- Software engineering programs
- 0
- titled software engineering
- Computer science programs
- 11
- IPEDS 2024
- Median pay, software developers
- $104,490
- BLS OEWS, May 2025
Key takeaways
- No college in Arkansas awards a degree titled software engineering. The state has 11 computer science programs at 10 schools. Computer science is the degree most software engineers hold besides software engineering itself, and a software engineering degree can still be taken online from a school in another state, listed below.
- At Arkansas’s public schools, the median undergraduate tuition for 2023–24 was $7,320 in state and $9,600 out of state, so residency saves about $2,280 a year at the median. Private schools had a median of $30,137. These IPEDS figures are one per school and leave out fees, housing and financial aid.
- Software developers in Arkansas earned a median of $104,490 in May 2025, against $135,980 nationally, and half earned between $81,480 and $127,740. The state employed 6,050 of them. Nationally, BLS projects the occupation to grow 10.2% from 2025 to 2035, against 3.5% for all occupations.
- Prices in Arkansas were 13.1% below the national average in 2024, by the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s measure, and housing stood at 58.2 against a national 100. At national prices, the state’s developer median goes as far as about $120,240. BEA’s 2024 figures are its latest, a year behind the pay data.
- Neighboring states with programs titled software engineering: Texas (10), Missouri (2), Mississippi (1) and Oklahoma (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.
Studying software engineering in Arkansas
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. No college in Arkansas awards the first, so this guide covers the state’s computer science programs and the software engineering degrees taught online.
What this page covers
- Computer science programs: the state’s 11 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.
Computer science programs in Arkansas
10 schools, 11 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.
| School | Degree | City | ABET | Tuition 2023–24 | School grad rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas-Fort Smith | Bachelor’s | Fort Smith | $4,512 | 38% | |
| Harding | Bachelor’s | Searcy | $24,240 | 69% | |
| Hendrix College | Bachelor’s | Conway | $36,300 | 72% | |
| John Brown University | Bachelor’s | Siloam Springs | $29,488 | 72% | |
| Lyon College | Bachelor’s | Batesville | $29,900 | 47% | |
| Ouachita Baptist University | Bachelor’s | Arkadelphia | $31,780 | 61% | |
| Philander Smith University | Bachelor’s | Little Rock | $11,804 | 30% | |
| University of Arkansas | Bachelor’s · Master’s | Fayetteville | ✓ ABET bachelor’s | B: $7,666M: $10,500 | 71% |
| University of Arkansas Grantham | Bachelor’s | LIttle Rock | $7,080 | 43% | |
| University of Central Arkansas | Master’s | Conway | $5,281 | N/A |
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.
The software job market in Arkansas
Arkansas employed 6,050 software developers in May 2025. Its location quotient for the occupation is 0.43: 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.
| Occupation | Employed | Median | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software Developers | 6,050 | $104,490 | 0.43 |
| Computer Systems Analysts | 4,100 | $81,760 | 0.94 |
| Computer Programmers | 1,050 | $111,840 | 1.36 |
| Web Developers | 400 | $50,550 | 0.67 |
| Data Scientists | 530 | $109,390 | 0.24 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Arkansas. 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.
What software developers earn in Arkansas
The state median is $104,490, $31,490 below the national $135,980. Half of the state’s software developers earn between $81,480 and $127,740.
BEA puts prices in Arkansas at 86.9 against a national 100 (2024), so the median goes as far as $120,240 would nationally, $15,740 less than the national median.
BEA price parities, 2024; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Software engineering degrees Arkansas residents can take online
The closest route to a software engineering degree from Arkansas is online. These are the highest-scoring online programs in our rankings. Confirm with each school that it enrolls students living in Arkansas.
| School | National rank | Based in | Tuition 2023–24 | ABET | Score of 100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s in software engineering | |||||
| Kennesaw State | #13 | Kennesaw, GA | $15,704 | ✓ ABET | 72.5 |
| Minnesota-Crookston | #41 | Crookston, MN | $11,478 | 44.8 | |
| University of Arizona | #43 | Tucson, AZ | $37,053 | 42.8 | |
| North Dakota State | #49 | Fargo, ND | $13,963 | 38.7 | |
| Penn State World Campus | #59 | University Park, PA | $15,204 | 35.2 | |
| Master’s in software engineering | |||||
| Kennesaw State | #11 | Kennesaw, GA | $19,188 | 67.6 | |
| UH-Clear Lake | #14 | Houston, TX | $17,532 | 59.5 | |
| North Dakota State | #15 | Fargo, ND | $11,377 | 58.9 | |
| St. Cloud State | #19 | Saint Cloud, MN | $14,130 | 53.3 | |
| Washington State | #20 | Pullman, WA | $27,842 | 53.0 | |
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.
The full lists: Best Online Software Engineering Degrees and Online Master’s in Software Engineering.
Neighboring states
- Texas Texas: 10 software engineering programs, with statewide pay and job growth.
- Missouri Missouri: 2 software engineering programs, with statewide pay and job growth.
- Mississippi Mississippi: 1 software engineering program, with statewide pay and job growth.
- Oklahoma Oklahoma: 1 software engineering program, with statewide pay and job growth.
- Tennessee Tennessee: 1 software engineering program, with statewide pay and job growth.
- Louisiana No program in Louisiana is titled software engineering; its guide covers computer science programs and online options.
Frequently asked questions
Can you study software engineering in Arkansas?
No college in Arkansas awards a degree titled software engineering. The state has 11 computer science programs, and software engineering degrees can be taken online from schools elsewhere.
How much does a software engineering degree cost in Arkansas?
Across Arkansas’s public schools in this guide, median undergraduate tuition for 2023–24 was $7,320 for residents and $9,600 for nonresidents; at private schools the median was $30,137. These IPEDS figures exclude fees and housing.
How much do software engineers make in Arkansas?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that includes software engineers, earned a median of $104,490 in Arkansas in May 2025. The 10th percentile was $60,570 and the 90th $162,380.
Is Arkansas pay worth it after cost of living?
BEA puts Arkansas’s prices at 86.9 against a national 100 in 2024. Divided by that, the developer median of $104,490 is worth about $120,240 at national prices.
Can Arkansas 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 Arkansas.
Which schools in Arkansas offer computer science degrees?
Harding University, Hendrix College, John Brown University, Lyon College, Ouachita Baptist University, Philander Smith University, University of Arkansas, University of Arkansas Grantham and 2 more. This page lists 9 bachelor’s programs and 2 master’s programs in computer science.
References
Every figure on this page comes from one of these, read by the site’s data scripts and computed at build time, never typed in.
- 1 NCES IPEDS 2024: completions and programs offered The program list: bachelor’s and master’s programs in software engineering and in computer science, and graduates a year (three-year average).
- 2 NCES IPEDS institutional charges, 2023–24 Tuition at the program’s level, and undergraduate tuition per school for the cost medians. Excludes fees, housing and aid.
- 3 NCES IPEDS graduation rates The school’s six-year graduation rate, for the whole school rather than the program; IPEDS DRVGR2023 where the main pull has no figure.
- 4 Each school’s own program page Program name, delivery, credits, and every bullet on the program cards, quoted from the saved page. Read .
- 5 ABET Accredited Program Search Which programs are on ABET’s accredited list. Read .
- 6 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: state estimates Employment, median and percentiles in Arkansas for software developers; employment and median for the related occupations, and location quotients. Read .
- 7 BLS Employment Projections, 2025-35 National projected growth, 2025 to 2035. Read .
- 8 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities by State (SARPP), 2024 All-items and housing price levels for Arkansas (US = 100), used for the price-adjusted median. Read .