The Boston area has 2 programs titled software engineering at 2 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 Boston’s city limits, so this guide covers the whole Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area.
Kevin ToFounder & Editor·B.S. in Computer Science, Temple University·Updated
Software engineering programs
2
titled software engineering
ABET-accredited
0
ABET’s list, 2026-09-30
Computer science programs
9
IPEDS 2024
Median pay, software developers
$166,090
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Key takeaways
01The Boston area has 2 degrees titled software engineering, all master’s, at 2 schools, plus 9 computer science programs. Northeastern ranks first among the area’s master’s programs, with a score of 61.0 out of 100, #13 nationally. Each program below is checked against the school’s own page. They are Northeastern’s master’s (4 miles from Boston’s center) and Tufts’s master’s (7 miles from Boston’s center).
02Software developers in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area earned a median of $166,090 in May 2025, against $165,210 across Massachusetts and $135,980 nationally. The metro area employed 42,310 of them. Nationally, BLS projects the occupation to grow 10.2% from 2025 to 2035, against 3.5% for all occupations.
03Prices near Boston were 8.3% above the national average in 2024, by the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s measure, and housing stood at 148.4 against a national 100. At national prices, the metro area’s developer median goes as far as about $153,360. BEA’s 2024 figures are its latest, a year behind the pay data.
04This page covers the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area only. The Massachusetts guide covers all 3 programs titled software engineering across the state, 1 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 Boston 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. Boston 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 Boston 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 Boston 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 Boston: 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
Northeastern: #13 of 44 nationally
Northeastern leads near Boston with 61.0 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 near Boston 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 Boston
Not ranked
Master’s in software engineering
2 programs
#1 near Boston
61.0of 100
Northeastern
Boston, MA · about 4 mi from central Boston
MSCampus
Tuition
$27,728
Out-of-state
$27,728
Grads/yr
812
Pairs with a Gordon engineering leadership certificate
Northeastern lists its Master of Science in Software Engineering Systems as an on-ground program with part-time and full-time options and a two-year duration. Campuses are Arlington, Boston and Toronto, and you can start in the fall or spring. The program takes an analytical, engineering view of software development, with a lot of data work. Coursework covers data management at basic and advanced levels, business intelligence, column databases, plus data science and Big Data engineering topics. Scala-based functional programming at an advanced level comes next, along with advanced data science, cloud computing and multithread concurrent computing.
If you want leadership training on top, you can pair the degree with the Gordon Institute's Graduate Certificate in Engineering Leadership, a 16-semester hour certificate with an industry-based challenge project. You have to be admitted to the Gordon Institute separately. The application asks for transcripts from every school attended, two letters of recommendation, a statement of purpose and a resume. International applicants need TOEFL, IELTS or Duolingo scores unless they meet the waiver rules, and the program meets F-1 visa requirements.
#2 near Boston
23.9of 100
Tufts
Medford, MA · about 7 mi from central Boston
MSCampus
Tuition
$48,324
Out-of-state
$48,324
Grads/yr
5.3
Tufts calls this degree the M.S. in Software Systems Development. It is a 30-credit master's program offered by the Department of Computer Science and delivered on campus, based on the Medford/Somerville campus. Classes meet during the day for both full-time and part-time students, and on average students finish in 12 to 24 months. You can start in fall or spring. The program prepares you to design, build, test and maintain complex software systems, with an emphasis on systems programming in C and C++, software development, program security, systems engineering and data management.
Coursework also touches software design, software testing, back-end development, operating systems and networked and distributed systems. You need a bachelor's degree and either formal instruction or practical experience in software development, including programming in a high-level language such as Java, C, C++, C# or J#. If your high-level experience is in a language other than C or C++, Tufts can advise preparatory coursework in C. Applications include a resume, personal statement, transcripts and three letters of recommendation. GRE scores are not required, and a portfolio is optional.
Compare
Programs side by side
Boston 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 Boston’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 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area whose campus is outside Boston’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
6 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
Private
$46,954
median of 3 schools
Prices near Boston were 108.3 against a national 100 in 2024, and housing 148.4, 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 5 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 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area employed 42,310 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, Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH. 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 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area.
Industry
Businesses
Employees
Payroll per employee
Computer systems design and related services
2,798
51,898
$164,300
Software publishers
700
57,225
$192,500
Data processing, hosting and related services
434
28,808
$165,900
Computer and electronic product manufacturing
490
44,866
$107,600
The first three of those industries employ 5.1% of the metro area’s private-sector workers, against 2.6% nationally, 1.9 times the national share.
Of these industries, software publishers employs the most people in the metro area, 57,225, at $192,500 in payroll per employee.
Businesses, employees (mid-March) and annual payroll: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, metropolitan areas and United States (cbp23msa, cbp23us), private sector, Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area; payroll per employee covers every job in the industry, not only developers.
Pay
What software developers earn
$102,95010th
$131,88025th
$166,090median
$183,74075th
$214,10090th
Software developers, Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, BLS OEWS May 2025. National median: $135,980.
The metro area’s median is $166,090, $30,110 above the national $135,980. Half of the metro area’s software developers earn between $131,880 and $183,740.
BEA puts prices in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area at 108.3 against a national 100 (2024), so the median goes as far as $153,360 would nationally, $17,380 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 Boston 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 Boston’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 Boston is titled software engineering (Northeastern and Tufts offer master’s programs for later), but you’ve got 19 computer science bachelor’s programs across the metro, including Boston University, Emmanuel College, Sattler College and 16 more, 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 Boston, that’s two software engineering programs and 29 computer science programs across the metro, so you really can choose. An easy way to decide: put Northeastern’s course list next to Boston 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 Northeastern and Tufts, 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 2,798 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 Boston is Quinnipiac’s bachelor’s in Hamden, about 116 miles away. Check any program’s accreditation before you apply.
5
Look for your first job nearby
The Boston area had 42,310 software developers in May 2025, earning a median of $166,090. The biggest software industries here are software publishing (57,225 jobs) and computer systems design (51,898 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 Boston fits, these are the highest-scoring online programs in our rankings. Confirm with each school that it enrolls students living near Boston.
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 Boston?
2 degrees titled software engineering, all master’s, at 2 schools. 0 of them are on ABET’s accredited list.
How much do software engineers make near Boston?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that includes software engineers, earned a median of $166,090 near Boston in May 2025. The 10th percentile was $102,950 and the 90th $214,100.
Is Boston pay worth it after cost of living?
BEA puts Boston’s prices at 108.3 against a national 100 in 2024. Divided by that, the developer median of $166,090 is worth about $153,360 at national prices.
Who hires software engineers near Boston?
No source counts software hiring by company the same way in every metro, so we don’t name employers. The Census Bureau counted 2,798 computer systems design businesses in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area in 2023, employing 51,898 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 Boston 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 Boston.
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 Boston to the nearest ABET-accredited software engineering program (straight line).
