Software Engineering Degrees Near Hartford for 2027
The Hartford area has 1 program titled software engineering at 1 school, and 0 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 Hartford’s city limits, so this guide covers the whole Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT metro area.
Kevin ToFounder & Editor·B.S. in Computer Science, Temple University·Updated
Software engineering programs
1
titled software engineering
ABET-accredited
0
ABET’s list, 2026-09-30
Computer science programs
0
IPEDS 2024
Median pay, software developers
$132,520
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Key takeaways
01The Hartford area has 1 degree titled software engineering, a master’s, at 1 school, plus 0 computer science programs. Central Connecticut State ranks first among the area’s master’s programs, with a score of 48.4 out of 100, #26 nationally. Each program below is checked against the school’s own page. It is Central Connecticut State’s master’s (7 miles from Hartford’s center). Across Connecticut as a whole, 4 programs carry the title.
02Software developers in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT metro area earned a median of $132,520 in May 2025, against $134,120 across Connecticut and $135,980 nationally. The metro area employed 6,010 of them. Nationally, BLS projects the occupation to grow 10.2% from 2025 to 2035, against 3.5% for all occupations.
03Prices near Hartford were 2.7% above the national average in 2024, by the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s measure, and housing stood at 110.2 against a national 100. At national prices, the metro area’s developer median goes as far as about $129,040. BEA’s 2024 figures are its latest, a year behind the pay data.
04This page covers the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT metro area only. The Connecticut guide covers all 4 programs titled software engineering across the state, 2 bachelor’s and 2 master’s, with the same comparisons of cost and pay, so a program elsewhere in the state can be weighed against one here.
05If nothing near Hartford fits, the degree can be taken online. The highest-scoring online programs in our rankings are Kennesaw State’s bachelor’s, at 72.5 out of 100, and Kennesaw State’s master’s, at 67.6. Check with each school that it enrolls students living where you do before you apply.
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. Hartford offers both, and many software engineers hold either one.
What this page covers
Software engineering programs: the 1 bachelor’s or master’s degree near Hartford titled software engineering, each checked against the school’s own page.
Computer science programs: the area’s 0 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 Hartford 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 Hartford: each factor is measured against fixed national standards, which is why even the strongest program here can sit well below 100.
The master’s score
Central Connecticut State: #26 of 44 nationally
No software engineering master’s is inside Hartford’s city limits
The highest score in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT metro area is Central Connecticut State in New Britain, CT, 48.4 out of 100. Across the country the median master’s score is 52.0 and the highest is 86.9. Central Connecticut State’s biggest gap is program size, where it earns 8.4 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 Hartford 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 Hartford
Not ranked
Master’s in software engineering
1 program
#1 near Hartford
48.4of 100
Central Connecticut State
New Britain, CT · about 7 mi from central Hartford
MSCampus
Tuition
$8,300
Out-of-state
$21,380
Grads/yr
4.7
AGILE scholarship of up to $10,000 per year for MS students
CCSU's software engineering MS is 33 credits: four 3-credit core courses, 18 credits of electives and a 3-credit capstone. The core is Design Patterns, Software Testing and Quality Assurance, Fundamentals of Software Engineering and Advanced Software Engineering, and the capstone is CS 595, Capstone in Software Engineering. Electives come from 500-level computer science courses and a short list of 400-level ones, such as Database Concepts, Artificial Intelligence, Algorithms, Operating Systems Design and Computer Security, with at most 9 credits at the 400 level. Admission starts with a bachelor's in computer science and a 2.70 GPA.
A related information technology degree needs six relevant computer science courses, and a STEM degree needs five math and computer science courses, which can add a semester of prerequisites such as CS 501. Applicants without a computer science degree send a resume and two letters of recommendation. A GPA between 2.40 and 2.69 may be considered for conditional admission, and GMAT or GRE scores are not required. You can attend full-time or part-time, and cohorts start every January and August. The department's AGILE scholarship, funded through an NSF program, offers qualified students up to $10,000 per academic year if they are enrolled at least half-time, which means 6 credits a semester.
Compare
Programs side by side
Hartford 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 Hartford’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 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT metro area whose campus is outside Hartford’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.
Cost
What it costs
Too few schools here publish a federal tuition figure for a Hartford median, so this is each program’s own figure: graduate tuition for a master’s, undergraduate for a bachelor’s, as on its card.
Prices near Hartford were 102.7 against a national 100 in 2024, and housing 110.2, 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, each program’s school-wide figure at its level (graduate or undergraduate). 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 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT metro area employed 6,010 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, Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT. 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 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT metro area.
Industry
Businesses
Employees
Payroll per employee
Computer systems design and related services
375
6,828
$104,000
Software publishers
48
1,353
$112,500
Data processing, hosting and related services
65
2,133
$128,100
Computer and electronic product manufacturing
54
2,978
$75,500
The first three of those industries employ 1.9% of the metro area’s private-sector workers, against 2.6% nationally, below the national share.
Of these industries, computer systems design and related services employs the most people in the metro area, 6,828, while data processing, hosting and related services pays the most per employee, $128,100.
Businesses, employees (mid-March) and annual payroll: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, metropolitan areas and United States (cbp23msa, cbp23us), private sector, Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT metro area; payroll per employee covers every job in the industry, not only developers.
Pay
What software developers earn
$86,80010th
$105,75025th
$132,520median
$161,29075th
$176,39090th
Software developers, Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT metro area, BLS OEWS May 2025. National median: $135,980.
The metro area’s median is $132,520, $3,460 below the national $135,980. Half of the metro area’s software developers earn between $105,750 and $161,290.
BEA puts prices in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT metro area at 102.7 against a national 100 (2024), so the median goes as far as $129,040 would nationally, $6,940 less 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 Hartford 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 Hartford’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. No bachelor’s around Hartford is titled software engineering (Central Connecticut State offers a master’s for later), but you’ve got three computer science bachelor’s programs across the metro, including University of Saint Joseph, Wesleyan University and University of Connecticut, and employers hire from both. 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 Hartford, that’s one software engineering program and four computer science programs across the metro, so you really can choose. An easy way to decide: put Central Connecticut State’s course list next to Wesleyan University’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 Central Connecticut State, 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 375 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 Hartford is Quinnipiac’s bachelor’s in Hamden, about 26 miles away. Check any program’s accreditation before you apply.
5
Look for your first job nearby
The Hartford area had 6,010 software developers in May 2025, earning a median of $132,520. The biggest software industries here are computer systems design (6,828 jobs) and computer and electronics manufacturing (2,978 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 Hartford fits, these are the highest-scoring online programs in our rankings. Confirm with each school that it enrolls students living near Hartford.
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 Hartford?
1 degree titled software engineering, a master’s, at 1 school. 0 of them are on ABET’s accredited list.
How much do software engineers make near Hartford?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that includes software engineers, earned a median of $132,520 near Hartford in May 2025. The 10th percentile was $86,800 and the 90th $176,390.
Is Hartford pay worth it after cost of living?
BEA puts Hartford’s prices at 102.7 against a national 100 in 2024. Divided by that, the developer median of $132,520 is worth about $129,040 at national prices.
Who hires software engineers near Hartford?
No source counts software hiring by company the same way in every metro, so we don’t name employers. The Census Bureau counted 375 computer systems design businesses in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT metro area in 2023, employing 6,828 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 Hartford 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 Hartford.
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 .
12NCES IPEDS HD2024: campus coordinatesCampus latitude and longitude, for the distance from Hartford to the nearest ABET-accredited software engineering program (straight line).
