Illinois has 3 programs titled software engineering at 2 schools, and 60 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
3
titled software engineering
ABET-accredited
0
ABET’s list, 2026-09-30
Computer science programs
60
IPEDS 2024
Median pay, software developers
$132,110
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Key takeaways
01Illinois has 3 degrees titled software engineering, 1 bachelor’s and 2 master’s, at 2 schools, plus 60 computer science programs. Loyola University Chicago ranks first among the state’s bachelor’s programs, with a score of 33.0 out of 100, #62 nationally. Each program below is checked against the school’s own page. They are DePaul’s master’s, Loyola University Chicago’s bachelor’s and Loyola University Chicago’s master’s.
02At Illinois’s public schools, the median undergraduate tuition for 2023–24 was $9,950 in state and $12,330 out of state, so residency saves about $2,380 a year at the median. Private schools had a median of $38,564. These IPEDS figures are one per school and leave out fees, housing and financial aid.
03Software developers in Illinois earned a median of $132,110 in May 2025, against $135,980 nationally, and half earned between $101,540 and $166,420. The state employed 56,310 of them. Nationally, BLS projects the occupation to grow 10.2% from 2025 to 2035, against 3.5% for all occupations.
04Prices in Illinois were 0.0% below the national average in 2024, by the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s measure, and housing stood at 93.9 against a national 100. At national prices, the state’s developer median goes as far as about $132,110. BEA’s 2024 figures are its latest, a year behind the pay data.
05Neighboring states with programs titled software engineering: Indiana (6), Wisconsin (5), Iowa (3) and Kentucky (2). 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 Illinois
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. Illinois offers both, and many software engineers hold either one.
What this page covers
Software engineering programs: the 3 bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Illinois titled software engineering, each checked against the school’s own page.
Computer science programs: the state’s 60 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 Illinois 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 Illinois: 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
Loyola University Chicago: #62 of 75 nationally
Loyola University Chicago leads in Illinois with 33.0 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 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
DePaul: #31 of 44 nationally
DePaul leads in Illinois with 40.7 out of 100
Across the country the median master’s score is 52.0 and the highest is 86.9. Its biggest gap is cost, where it earns 16 of 40 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 in Illinois 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 Illinois
Not ranked
Bachelor’s in software engineering
1 program
#1 in Illinois
33.0of 100
Loyola University Chicago
Chicago, IL
BSCampus
In-state
$50,270
Out-of-state
$50,270
Completion
71%
Electives build web, distributed and database projects using Extreme Programming
Loyola's BS in software engineering sits in the College of Arts and Sciences, and the suggested four-year plan totals 122 hours. The major itself is 61 hours. Required courses include Discrete Structures, Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming, Introduction to Computer Systems, Data Structures I and II, Object-Oriented Design, Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues in Computing, and Software Engineering. You pick nine credit hours of restricted electives drawn from software engineering topics, such as Requirements Engineering, Formal Methods in Software Engineering, Software Quality and Compiler Construction.
A six-credit practicum slot works as the capstone, chosen from a list that includes an internship, independent study and security and privacy work, and the page encourages you to take these in junior and senior years. Math is Applied Calculus I or Calculus I plus one statistics course. High-level electives have you write major projects in database programming, markup language transformation, distributed programming for large clusters and client/server web programming, using practices such as Extreme Programming. Arts and Sciences also requires a language through the 102 level, and an AP CS A score of 4 or 5 earns credit for the first programming course.
Master’s in software engineering
2 programs
#1 in Illinois
40.7of 100
DePaul
Chicago, IL
MSCampus + online
Tuition
$22,135
Out-of-state
$22,135
Grads/yr
25
Online
The only master’s program in Illinois offered online
Three concentrations, including AI in software engineering and game systems
DePaul's MS in software engineering is offered in person or fully online, and the page says every lecture is captured and available online. It is STEM-designated, which matters if you are an international student who wants to extend your stay after graduating. You pick one of three concentrations: Software Development and Architecture, Real-Time Software and Game Systems, or AI in Software Engineering. The curriculum covers software project management, maintenance, testing and quality assurance, construction, architecture and design, and requirements engineering.
The program also stresses communication and presentation skills in a team-based development environment. Learning outcomes include applying testing techniques at module, integration and system levels and collaborating in teams to develop a significantly sized software system from conceptualization to completion. The real-time concentration covers game physics, networking and engine tooling, with uses in defense work, electronic trading and mobile development beyond games. Incoming CDM graduate students can apply for scholarships, and assistantships and funded research opportunities are listed too.
#2 in Illinois
37.7of 100
Loyola University Chicago
Chicago, IL
MSCampus
Tuition
$21,375
Out-of-state
$21,375
Grads/yr
13
Accelerated Master's Pathway lets undergrads finish in a fifth year
Loyola's MS in software engineering requires between 30 and 40 credit hours, typically 10 to 14 courses. The range exists because four foundation courses, COMP 400A to 400D, can be waived based on prior undergraduate or graduate coursework, and each waiver subtracts credit hours. The required courses are Social and Ethical Issues in Computing and Intermediate Object-Oriented Development. You then choose restricted electives worth nine credit hours across three or more courses, with one or more from Group 1, which includes web services programming, enterprise software development, concurrent programming, distributed systems and server-side development.
Group 2 includes operating systems, open source computing, human-computer interaction, database programming and high-performance computing. Electives can include up to 6 credit hours of an independent project or an internship, and the sample plan puts an internship in the summer. The page says this degree places more weight on software development, and points anyone who wants a managerial focus to the MS in Information Technology. Loyola undergraduates can use the Accelerated Master's Pathway to take up to 12 shared credit hours in senior year and finish in a fifth year.
Compare
Illinois software engineering programs side by side
Illinois 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 Illinois’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 Illinois
42 schools, 58 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 Bradley and North Central College.
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 Illinois
Public, in-state
$9,950
median of 11 schools
Public, out-of-state
$12,330
median of 11 schools
Private
$38,564
median of 28 schools
Living in Illinois is worth about $2,380 a year in tuition at the median public school, the gap between the two public medians. Over a four-year degree that is roughly $9,520, before any change in rates.
Prices in Illinois were 100 against a national 100 in 2024, and housing 93.9, 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 39 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 Illinois
Illinois employed 56,310 software developers in May 2025. Its location quotient for the occupation is 0.85: 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, Illinois. 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 Illinois. 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 Illinois
$80,98010th
$101,54025th
$132,110median
$166,42075th
$194,74090th
Software developers, Illinois, BLS OEWS May 2025. National median: $135,980.
The state median is $132,110, $3,870 below the national $135,980. Half of the state’s software developers earn between $101,540 and $166,420.
BEA puts prices in Illinois at 100 against a national 100 (2024), so the median goes as far as $132,110 would nationally, $3,870 less than the national median.
BEA price parities, 2024; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Online options
Online software engineering degrees for Illinois residents
If no program in Illinois fits, these are the highest-scoring online programs in our rankings. Confirm with each school that it enrolls students living in Illinois.
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 Illinois?
3 degrees titled software engineering, 1 bachelor’s and 2 master’s, at 2 schools. 0 of them are on ABET’s accredited list.
What is the best software engineering school in Illinois?
Loyola University Chicago ranks first of the 1 ranked bachelor’s programs in Illinois, with a score of 33.0 out of 100 (#62 nationally). The score combines completion, net price, ABET accreditation and program size.
How much does a software engineering degree cost in Illinois?
Across Illinois’s public schools in this guide, median undergraduate tuition for 2023–24 was $9,950 for residents and $12,330 for nonresidents; at private schools the median was $38,564. These IPEDS figures exclude fees and housing.
How much do software engineers make in Illinois?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that includes software engineers, earned a median of $132,110 in Illinois in May 2025. The 10th percentile was $80,980 and the 90th $194,740.
Is Illinois pay worth it after cost of living?
BEA puts Illinois’s prices at 100 against a national 100 in 2024. Divided by that, the developer median of $132,110 is worth about $132,110 at national prices.
Can Illinois 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 Illinois.
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 .
