Software Engineering Degrees Near Indianapolis for 2027
The Indianapolis area has 2 programs titled software engineering at 2 schools, 1 accredited by ABET, and 4 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 Indianapolis’s city limits, so this guide covers the whole Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN metro area.
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
4
IPEDS 2024
Median pay, software developers
$106,870
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Key takeaways
01The Indianapolis area has 2 degrees titled software engineering, all bachelor’s, at 2 schools, plus 4 computer science programs. 1 of the software engineering programs is on ABET’s accredited list. University of Indianapolis ranks first among the area’s bachelor’s programs, with a score of 65.6 out of 100, #23 nationally. Each program below is checked against the school’s own page. Across Indiana as a whole, 6 programs carry the title.
02Software developers in the Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN metro area earned a median of $106,870 in May 2025, against $105,920 across Indiana and $135,980 nationally. The metro area employed 7,140 of them. Nationally, BLS projects the occupation to grow 10.2% from 2025 to 2035, against 3.5% for all occupations.
03Prices near Indianapolis were 4.3% below the national average in 2024, by the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s measure, and housing stood at 88.9 against a national 100. At national prices, the metro area’s developer median goes as far as about $111,670. BEA’s 2024 figures are its latest, a year behind the pay data.
04This page covers the Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN metro area only. The Indiana guide covers all 6 programs titled software engineering across the state, 5 bachelor’s and 1 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 Indianapolis 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. Indianapolis offers both, and many software engineers hold either one.
What this page covers
Software engineering programs: the 2 bachelor’s and master’s degrees near Indianapolis titled software engineering, each checked against the school’s own page.
Computer science programs: the area’s 4 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 Indianapolis 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 Indianapolis: 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
University of Indianapolis: #23 of 75 nationally
University of Indianapolis leads near Indianapolis with 65.6 out of 100
Across the country the median bachelor’s score is 56.7 and the highest is 87.0. Its biggest gap is completion, where it earns 21.7 of 35 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 near Indianapolis 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 Indianapolis
Not ranked
Bachelor’s in software engineering
2 programs
#1 near Indianapolis
65.6of 100
University of Indianapolis
Indianapolis, IN · about 5 mi from central Indianapolis
BSCampus
In-state
$34,416
Out-of-state
$34,416
Completion
62%
✓ ABET-accredited
The only ABET-accredited bachelor’s program near Indianapolis
DesignSpine industry projects from sophomore through senior year
UIndy's software engineering major comes out of the Annis School of Engineering and treats software as a full life cycle. You learn to define requirements, develop the software, test it, integrate the parts, maintain it after release, and plan and schedule all of that. The math and science load is engineering-sized. The curriculum guide requires two semesters of calculus, Discrete Mathematics, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, two calculus-based physics courses and General Chemistry I. Software courses include Intro to Software Engineering, Advanced C Programming, Software Validation and Testing, Software Architecture and Software Project Management, next to Data Structures and Algorithms, Database Systems and Operating Systems.
Courses use Java, JavaScript, Python, PHP and C/C++. Engineering Design Labs I through VIII run across the degree, and Design Lab VIII is the capstone. The DesignSpine sequence puts you on multidisciplinary teams working with industry clients from sophomore year on. A typical major finishes with 128 credits against a 120 hour minimum, and the engineering, math, science and computer science courses must average a C or higher. A software engineering concentration is also offered, built on Introduction to Programming, Object-Oriented Programming and Introduction to Software Engineering plus six elective credits. The program holds ABET accreditation through its Engineering Accreditation Commission.
#2 near Indianapolis
32.3of 100
Butler
Indianapolis, IN · about 4 mi from central Indianapolis
BSCampus
In-state
$44,990
Out-of-state
$44,990
Completion
83%
Cybersecurity, AI and game design tracks
Butler's software engineering major is 120 credit hours, and you need a GPA of 2.0 or higher to finish. The major itself takes 62 of those hours. It includes a two-part internship course, SE411-412, so work experience is part of the degree. The upper-level software courses are Managing Software Development (SE461), Modernizing Legacy Software (SE462) and Software Testing and Quality Assurance (SE463). Math runs through Calculus I and II plus Elementary Statistics, and you also take Database Systems, Algorithms, Parallel Algorithms and Computer Ethics.
Discrete Mathematics can substitute for the first Foundations of Computing course and Graph Theory for the second. If you want a focus, there are three tracks: cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and game design. Beyond the major comes the Butler Core Curriculum, up to 27 credit hours, which includes at least six credits of a foreign language at the 200 level or above. You also need at least 40 credit hours at the 300 level or above. Declaring several majors and minors is allowed, and the program recommends adding a minor.
Compare
Programs side by side
Indianapolis 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 Indianapolis’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 Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN metro area whose campus is outside Indianapolis’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
3 schools, 4 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
Too few schools here publish a federal tuition figure for a Indianapolis 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 Indianapolis were 95.7 against a national 100 in 2024, and housing 88.9, 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, 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 Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN metro area employed 7,140 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, Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN. 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 Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN metro area.
Industry
Businesses
Employees
Payroll per employee
Computer systems design and related services
916
15,977
$83,000
Software publishers
87
7,146
$200,600
Data processing, hosting and related services
131
1,918
$97,500
Computer and electronic product manufacturing
52
1,670
$79,600
The first three of those industries employ 2.5% of the metro area’s private-sector workers, against 2.6% nationally, close to the national share.
Of these industries, computer systems design and related services employs the most people in the metro area, 15,977, while software publishers pays the most per employee, $200,600.
Businesses, employees (mid-March) and annual payroll: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, metropolitan areas and United States (cbp23msa, cbp23us), private sector, Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN metro area; payroll per employee covers every job in the industry, not only developers.
Pay
What software developers earn
$76,99010th
$83,99025th
$106,870median
$135,06075th
$158,97090th
Software developers, Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN metro area, BLS OEWS May 2025. National median: $135,980.
The metro area’s median is $106,870, $29,110 below the national $135,980. Half of the metro area’s software developers earn between $83,990 and $135,060.
BEA puts prices in the Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN metro area at 95.7 against a national 100 (2024), so the median goes as far as $111,670 would nationally, $24,310 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 Indianapolis 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 Indianapolis’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 Indianapolis you’ve got two bachelor’s programs titled software engineering, at University of Indianapolis and Butler, plus five 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 Indianapolis, that’s two software engineering programs and six computer science programs across the metro, so you really can choose. An easy way to decide: put University of Indianapolis’s course list next to Indiana University-Indianapolis’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 Butler and University of Indianapolis, 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 916 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 Indianapolis is University of Indianapolis’s bachelor’s in Indianapolis, about 5 miles away. Check any program’s accreditation before you apply.
5
Look for your first job nearby
The Indianapolis area had 7,140 software developers in May 2025, earning a median of $106,870. The biggest software industries here are computer systems design (15,977 jobs) and software publishing (7,146 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 Indianapolis fits, these are the highest-scoring online programs in our rankings. Confirm with each school that it enrolls students living near Indianapolis.
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 Indianapolis?
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 near Indianapolis?
University of Indianapolis ranks first of the 2 ranked bachelor’s programs near Indianapolis, with a score of 65.6 out of 100 (#23 nationally). The score combines completion, net price, ABET accreditation and program size.
Which software engineering programs near Indianapolis are ABET-accredited?
University of Indianapolis (bachelor’s), according to ABET’s accredited program list retrieved 2026-09-30.
How much do software engineers make near Indianapolis?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that includes software engineers, earned a median of $106,870 near Indianapolis in May 2025. The 10th percentile was $76,990 and the 90th $158,970.
Is Indianapolis pay worth it after cost of living?
BEA puts Indianapolis’s prices at 95.7 against a national 100 in 2024. Divided by that, the developer median of $106,870 is worth about $111,670 at national prices.
Who hires software engineers near Indianapolis?
No source counts software hiring by company the same way in every metro, so we don’t name employers. The Census Bureau counted 916 computer systems design businesses in the Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN metro area in 2023, employing 15,977 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 Indianapolis 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 Indianapolis.
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 Indianapolis to the nearest ABET-accredited software engineering program (straight line).
