Software Engineering Degrees Near Los Angeles for 2027
The Los Angeles area has 5 programs titled software engineering at 4 schools, and 9 computer science programs. This guide covers each one, what it costs, and what software developers earn in the metro area. Fewer than 5 programs titled software engineering sit inside Los Angeles’s city limits, so this guide covers the whole Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro area.
Kevin ToFounder & Editor·B.S. in Computer Science, Temple University·Updated
Software engineering programs
5
titled software engineering
ABET-accredited
0
ABET’s list, 2026-09-30
Computer science programs
9
IPEDS 2024
Median pay, software developers
$160,920
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Key takeaways
01The Los Angeles area has 5 degrees titled software engineering, 2 bachelor’s and 3 master’s, at 4 schools, plus 9 computer science programs. UC Irvine ranks first among the area’s bachelor’s programs, with a score of 63.3 out of 100, #26 nationally. Each program below is checked against the school’s own page. Across California as a whole, 9 programs carry the title.
02At Los Angeles’s public schools, the median undergraduate tuition for 2023–24 was $9,172 in state and $31,416 out of state, so residency saves about $22,244 a year at the median. Private schools had a median of $65,678. These IPEDS figures are one per school and leave out fees, housing and financial aid.
03Software developers in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro area earned a median of $160,920 in May 2025, against $174,410 across California and $135,980 nationally. The metro area employed 55,540 of them. Nationally, BLS projects the occupation to grow 10.2% from 2025 to 2035, against 3.5% for all occupations.
04Prices near Los Angeles were 13.6% above the national average in 2024, by the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s measure, and housing stood at 170.4 against a national 100. At national prices, the metro area’s developer median goes as far as about $141,650. BEA’s 2024 figures are its latest, a year behind the pay data.
05This page covers the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro area only. The California guide covers all 9 programs titled software engineering across the state, 5 bachelor’s and 4 master’s, with the same comparisons of cost and pay, so a program elsewhere in the state can be weighed against one here.
This guide
Studying software engineering here
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. Los Angeles offers both, and many software engineers hold either one.
What this page covers
Software engineering programs: the 5 bachelor’s and master’s degrees near Los Angeles titled software engineering, each checked against the school’s own page.
Computer science programs: the area’s 9 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 near Los Angeles 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 Los Angeles: 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
UC Irvine: #26 of 75 nationally
No software engineering bachelor’s is inside Los Angeles’s city limits
The highest score in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro area is UC Irvine in Irvine, CA, 63.3 out of 100. Across the country the median bachelor’s score is 56.7 and the highest is 87.0. UC Irvine’s biggest gap is ABET accreditation, where it earns 0 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.
The master’s score
Cal State Northridge: #12 of 44 nationally
Cal State Northridge has the top master’s score inside Los Angeles’s city limits, 65.8 out of 100
Across the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro area, Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton, CA scores higher, 84.6. Across the country the median master’s score is 52.0 and the highest is 86.9. Cal State Northridge’s biggest gap is program size, where it earns 10.8 of 30 points. Every scored program is in Software Engineering Master’s Programs.
Scored factors
100 pts total
Cost40 pts
The school’s graduate tuition (IPEDS), in fixed dollar tiers.
Under $10,00040 pts
$10,000 to $14,99932 pts
$15,000 to $19,99924 pts
$20,000 to $29,99916 pts
$30,000 to $39,9998 pts
$40,000 or more0 pts
Program size30 pts
Graduates a year, on a log scale that reaches full points at 500.
Research activity15 pts
The school’s Carnegie research class, from IPEDS.
R115
R29
Doctoral/professional3
Other0
ABET-accredited department15 pts
Full points if the school’s software engineering or computer science bachelor’s is on ABET’s list.
Each program is ranked against the others near Los Angeles 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 near Los Angeles
Not ranked
Bachelor’s in software engineering
2 programs
#1 near Los Angeles
63.3of 100
UC Irvine
Irvine, CA · about 42 mi from central Los Angeles
BSCampus
In-state
$11,834
Out-of-state
$42,611
Completion
86%
Two quarter capstone with an outside organization
UC Irvine's BS is built around hands-on work, from the first programming courses to a capstone where you spend two quarters with an outside organization building a substantial system. Freshmen follow the general undergraduate admissions process. Transfer applicants who finish the course prerequisites get preference, and they need one year of approved calculus, one year of object-oriented programming in Python, Java or C++, and lower-division writing. Lower-division work includes a programming series, C/C++ and Java as second languages, data structure implementation, computer organization, discrete mathematics, linear algebra, statistics and Introduction to Software Engineering.
The upper-division core adds requirements analysis, testing and quality assurance, human computer interaction, two software design courses, internet applications engineering, project management, operating systems, networks, algorithms and a critical writing course. You then pick four 4-unit upper-division electives from the school, and honors research or independent study can fill at most two of them. The two-part Senior Design Project requires the upper-division core first. The lower-division writing requirement must be done by the end of your seventh quarter.
#2 near Los Angeles
35.9of 100
Chapman
Orange, CA · about 36 mi from central Los Angeles
BSCampus
In-state
$62,400
Out-of-state
$62,400
Completion
80%
Three one credit Grand Challenges seminars
The major at Chapman runs 77 to 78 credits. You start with a Grand Challenges sequence of three one-credit courses, then lower-division work in design and fabrication, accelerated calculus, statistics, linear algebra with differential equations, two computer science courses, discrete mathematics and a social and ethical issues course. The upper division is 33 credits: software requirements and testing, software design, the development lifecycle, human factors, human computer interaction, data structures, programming languages, operating systems, databases and technical writing.
It ends in a three-credit Software Engineering Capstone Project. Nine elective credits are built with the software engineering advising committee, with choices such as Android and iOS development, machine learning, web engineering and formal methods. You also complete three one-credit sections of a computer science colloquium. Every major course needs a C- or better, with a 2.5 GPA in lower-division major courses and a 2.0 across all required major courses, and at least 21 upper-division credits must be in the major. The program page names the regional accreditor WASC and mentions ABET only for the computer and electrical engineering degrees.
Master’s in software engineering
3 programs
#1 near Los Angeles
84.6of 100
Cal State Fullerton
Fullerton, CA · about 32 mi from central Los Angeles
MSCampus
Tuition
$7,176
Out-of-state
$16,680
Grads/yr
69.7
Largest master’s program near Los Angeles by graduates a year
Online cohort with asynchronous courses, no meeting times
Cal State Fullerton's online MS is ten courses, 30 units, spread over 22 months of year-round study at two courses per semester. You move through it in a cohort on one shared schedule. Courses are asynchronous with no meeting times, and everything goes through Canvas. You attend an orientation first and a midpoint seminar later, both held at the campus but open online. Admission asks for a resume so the department can judge whether your work history covers CPSC 362, Foundations of Software Engineering, and the FAQ says at least one year of software development experience is expected.
The GRE is not required. There is no thesis option and no exit exam, only a terminal project, CPSC 597. The program is fully online, so it cannot issue an I-20 for international students. Cost is listed at roughly $14,000 for a California resident and $26,000 for a non-resident. The department also runs an on-campus accelerated version through Extension and International Programs that takes 17 months at roughly $26,000 for all students. If you miss a course, it is only offered once a year, so you would wait for the next cycle.
#2 near Los Angeles
81.1of 100
UC Irvine
Irvine, CA · about 42 mi from central Los Angeles
MSCampus
Tuition
$12,264
Out-of-state
$27,366
Grads/yr
51.3
Admission weighs open source work and developer jobs
UC Irvine's MSWE asks for a bachelor's degree or equivalent, and it weighs proof that you want to work as a software engineer: open source contributions, a past developer job, relevant undergraduate courses, or a non-trivial application you programmed. You also need to program well in two languages, know algorithms and data structures, and read and speak English well. A design portfolio, GitHub link or GRE score is optional. The plan has four required courses, Curricular Practical Training, two capstone courses and Advisement. On top of those you take at least six courses from SWE 240P through 259P and at least seven from SWE 260P through 277P.
Independent study, SWE 299P, needs the instructor's permission. Your GPA has to stay at 3.0 or above, no single grade can fall under B-, and the first quarter is a hurdle: finish two-thirds of the programming breadth courses you enroll in with a B or higher, or you can be considered for dismissal. The final exam is a written technical report plus an oral presentation on your capstone, run by the capstone faculty in your last quarter. The expected time is 15 months full time or 27 months part time, and one extension of up to a year can be granted.
#3 near Los Angeles
65.8of 100
Cal State Northridge
Northridge, CA · about 17 mi from central Los Angeles
MSCampus
Tuition
$7,176
Out-of-state
$16,680
Grads/yr
8.3
Thesis degree with a six unit thesis and proposal
Cal State Northridge's MS is a thesis degree, 30 units with 21 required and 9 in electives. Applicants take the GRE and need acceptance from the Computer Science department, though anyone with an ABET-accredited computer science BS and a 3.0 GPA or better is exempt from the test. To reach fully classified status you finish any prerequisite undergraduate material, or show equivalent work experience, and keep a 3.0 GPA while conditionally classified. The graduate coordinator can tell you what the prerequisites are. Fifteen of the required units are a breadth block: you choose five courses from a list of six covering requirements, management, verification, metrics, architecture and an advanced topics course.
The last six units are COMP 696 Directed Graduate Research and COMP 698C Thesis. Your thesis proposal needs sign-off from the faculty supervisor, the coordinator and the chair, and a three-member committee hears your defense. Electives are one software engineering course, such as Advanced Web Engineering or Graphical User Interfaces, plus two computer science courses at the 400 level or above. Grades must be C or better in every course, and nothing taken more than seven years before you finish counts toward the 30 units.
Compare
Programs side by side
Los Angeles 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; N/A on master’s rows, because federal data has no graduation rate for master’s programs. Grads/yr: IPEDS, three-year average. ABET: ABET’s list, retrieved 2026-09-30. #: the program’s rank among Los Angeles’s ranked programs at its level; NR, not ranked. Score: out of 100, the same score as on the ranking pages.
Nearby
Within driving distance
Programs in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro area whose campus is outside Los Angeles’s city limits.
City limits: Census TIGER incorporated place boundaries; campus locations: IPEDS 2024. Distances are straight-line miles from the city’s Census internal point, rounded.
Computer science
Computer science programs
5 schools, 9 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.
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
Public, in-state
$9,172
median of 4 schools
Public, out-of-state
$31,416
median of 4 schools
Private
$65,678
median of 3 schools
Living near Los Angeles is worth about $22,244 a year in tuition at the median public school, the gap between the two public medians. Over a four-year degree that is roughly $88,976, before any change in rates.
Prices near Los Angeles were 113.6 against a national 100 in 2024, and housing 170.4, 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 7 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 metro area, 2024, all items and housing services.
Job market
The software job market
The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro area employed 55,540 software developers in May 2025. 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, metropolitan areas, May 2025, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA. Metro estimates are published for fewer occupations than state estimates; the occupations BLS doesn’t publish here are left out. Growth: BLS Employment Projections, 2025-35, national.
Who hires
Who hires software developers
We don’t list company names: no source counts software hiring by employer the same way in every metro. What the Census Bureau does count is the businesses themselves, by industry, in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro area.
Industry
Businesses
Employees
Payroll per employee
Computer systems design and related services
7,006
57,977
$133,400
Software publishers
1,019
40,604
$183,600
Data processing, hosting and related services
847
22,077
$133,300
Computer and electronic product manufacturing
838
58,719
$99,000
The first three of those industries employ 2.2% of the metro area’s private-sector workers, against 2.6% nationally, below the national share.
Of these industries, computer and electronic product manufacturing employs the most people in the metro area, 58,719, while software publishers pays the most per employee, $183,600.
Businesses, employees (mid-March) and annual payroll: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, metropolitan areas and United States (cbp23msa, cbp23us), private sector, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro area; payroll per employee covers every job in the industry, not only developers.
Pay
What software developers earn
$98,27010th
$127,53025th
$160,920median
$191,54075th
$223,15090th
Software developers, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro area, BLS OEWS May 2025. National median: $135,980.
The metro area’s median is $160,920, $24,940 above the national $135,980. Half of the metro area’s software developers earn between $127,530 and $191,540.
BEA puts prices in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro area at 113.6 against a national 100 (2024), so the median goes as far as $141,650 would nationally, $5,670 more than the national median.
BEA price parities, 2024; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, metropolitan areas, May 2025.
Steps
How to become a software engineer
The path to software engineering near Los Angeles is the same one people take everywhere: a degree, real experience before you graduate, and a first job search. What changes is the schools you can choose from and who’s hiring nearby. Here are the five steps, with Los Angeles’s options in each.
1
Start with a bachelor’s degree
Most software developer jobs ask for a bachelor's degree, and you don’t need work experience to get your first one. Around Los Angeles you’ve got two bachelor’s programs titled software engineering, at UC Irvine and Chapman, plus 21 computer science bachelor’s programs across the metro if you want a wider net. Before you fall for one, compare what they cost; the tuition figures above make that quick.
2
Pick between software engineering and computer science
Employers hire from both majors. Software engineering leans toward building and maintaining large systems as a team; computer science gives you a broader base in theory. Around Los Angeles, that’s five software engineering programs and 32 computer science programs across the metro, so you really can choose. An easy way to decide: put UC Irvine’s course list next to Cal State LA’s and see which you’d rather spend four years in. Compare them.
3
Build experience before you graduate
Internships are often what turn a degree into a job offer. When you talk to Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Chapman and one more, ask how they connect students with internships. Look for a capstone where you build real software with a team; it gives you something concrete to talk about in interviews. With 7,006 computer systems design firms in the metro, a summer role close to home is realistic.
4
Know where licensing stands
You don’t need a license to work as a software engineer, and there’s no longer a licensing exam for it: the last one was given in April 2019. Accreditation still matters if you might want a license or certification later, since those often ask for an ABET-accredited degree. The closest accredited software engineering program to Los Angeles is Cal State San Marcos’s bachelor’s in San Marcos, about 95 miles away. Check any program’s accreditation before you apply.
5
Look for your first job nearby
The Los Angeles area had 55,540 software developers in May 2025, earning a median of $160,920. The biggest software industries here are computer and electronics manufacturing (58,719 jobs) and computer systems design (57,977 jobs), so start your search with those firms. Ask your program which local employers hire its graduates, and go to its career fairs from your first year. Across the country there are about 95,300 openings a year, so you can widen the search if you’re willing to move.
Online options
Online software engineering degrees
If no program near Los Angeles fits, these are the highest-scoring online programs in our rankings. Confirm with each school that it enrolls students living near Los Angeles.
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 near Los Angeles?
5 degrees titled software engineering, 2 bachelor’s and 3 master’s, at 4 schools. 0 of them are on ABET’s accredited list.
What is the best software engineering school near Los Angeles?
UC Irvine ranks first of the 2 ranked bachelor’s programs near Los Angeles, with a score of 63.3 out of 100 (#26 nationally). The score combines completion, net price, ABET accreditation and program size.
How much does a software engineering degree cost near Los Angeles?
Across Los Angeles’s public schools in this guide, median undergraduate tuition for 2023–24 was $9,172 for residents and $31,416 for nonresidents; at private schools the median was $65,678. These IPEDS figures exclude fees and housing.
How much do software engineers make near Los Angeles?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that includes software engineers, earned a median of $160,920 near Los Angeles in May 2025. The 10th percentile was $98,270 and the 90th $223,150.
Is Los Angeles pay worth it after cost of living?
BEA puts Los Angeles’s prices at 113.6 against a national 100 in 2024. Divided by that, the developer median of $160,920 is worth about $141,650 at national prices.
Who hires software engineers near Los Angeles?
No source counts software hiring by company the same way in every metro, so we don’t name employers. The Census Bureau counted 7,006 computer systems design businesses in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro area in 2023, employing 57,977 people. Nationally, the industries that employ the most software developers are computer systems design and related services, software publishers and management of companies and enterprises.
Can Los Angeles 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 near Los Angeles.
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 .
13NCES IPEDS HD2024: campus coordinatesCampus latitude and longitude, for the distance from Los Angeles to the nearest ABET-accredited software engineering program (straight line).
