Missouri has 2 programs titled software engineering at 2 schools, 1 accredited by ABET, and 27 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
2
titled software engineering
ABET-accredited
1
ABET’s list, 2026-09-30
Computer science programs
27
IPEDS 2024
Median pay, software developers
$126,120
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Key takeaways
01Missouri has 2 degrees titled software engineering, 1 bachelor’s and 1 master’s, at 2 schools, plus 27 computer science programs. 1 of the software engineering programs is on ABET’s accredited list. University of Central Missouri ranks first among the state’s bachelor’s programs, with a score of 72.0 out of 100, #15 nationally. Each program below is checked against the school’s own page.
02At Missouri’s public schools, the median undergraduate tuition for 2023–24 was $9,025 in state and $17,808 out of state, so residency saves about $8,783 a year at the median. Private schools had a median of $27,840. These IPEDS figures are one per school and leave out fees, housing and financial aid.
03Software developers in Missouri earned a median of $126,120 in May 2025, against $135,980 nationally, and half earned between $97,540 and $155,010. The state employed 20,020 of them. Nationally, BLS projects the occupation to grow 10.2% from 2025 to 2035, against 3.5% for all occupations.
04Prices in Missouri were 9.2% below the national average in 2024, by the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s measure, and housing stood at 69.9 against a national 100. At national prices, the state’s developer median goes as far as about $138,900. BEA’s 2024 figures are its latest, a year behind the pay data.
05Neighboring states with programs titled software engineering: Illinois (3), Iowa (3), Kentucky (2) and Nebraska (1). 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 Missouri
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. Missouri offers both, and many software engineers hold either one.
What this page covers
Software engineering programs: the 2 bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Missouri titled software engineering, each checked against the school’s own page.
Computer science programs: the state’s 27 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 Missouri 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 Missouri: 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 Central Missouri: #15 of 75 nationally
University of Central Missouri leads in Missouri with 72.0 out of 100
Across the country the median bachelor’s score is 56.7 and the highest is 87.0. Its biggest gap is completion, where it earns 20.7 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.
The master’s score
Saint Louis University: #41 of 44 nationally
Saint Louis University leads in Missouri with 33.0 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 in Missouri 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 Missouri
Not ranked
Bachelor’s in software engineering
1 program
#1 in Missouri
72.0of 100
University of Central Missouri
Warrensburg, MO
BSCampus
In-state
$8,325
Out-of-state
$16,650
Completion
59%
✓ ABET-accredited
You learn the whole software development cycle in Warrensburg, through a curriculum that covers both computer science and engineering topics: specifying, building, analyzing, testing and maintaining complex software systems. Popular courses include Software Design and Architecture, Software Testing and Quality Assurance, and Secure Software Engineering. The School of Computer Science and Mathematics has nearly 200 computers across six classrooms and one open computer lab, and you learn both Windows and Linux. Two common study lounges sit close to faculty offices, and nearly all full-time faculty hold PhDs.
For money, there are scholarships aimed at software engineering majors, such as the Software Engineering Achievement Award and the ACM Scholarship, and undergraduates can earn tuition money working as a tutor or teaching assistant. After the bachelor's, the University of Central Missouri offers master's degrees in computer science, cybersecurity and information assurance, and data science and artificial intelligence. The degree's ABET accreditation comes from the Engineering Accreditation Commission, under its program criteria for software engineering.
Master’s in software engineering
1 program
#1 in Missouri
33.0of 100
Saint Louis University
Saint Louis, MO
MSCampus
Tuition
$23,580
Out-of-state
$23,580
Grads/yr
4.3
Team capstone covering a full development cycle
SLU's software engineering master's degree is 30 credits. The required courses are Principles of Software Development, Computing and Society, Software Engineering and a Software Engineering Capstone Project, where teams go through a full development cycle. Beyond those you take 9 credits of software engineering electives and 9 credits of general electives, which can be any three additional CSCI courses numbered 5090 to 5930. You can apply at most 3 credits of CSCI 5910 Internship with Industry. A bachelor's degree in a STEM major is typical for admission, and most successful applicants hold an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.00.
You should show strong computational skills, usually through prior programming and data structures coursework, and strong math, usually calculus and statistics. Applicants without a computer science background may be asked to take prerequisite courses, which the page says typically won't affect time to degree. Applications cover transcripts, one required letter of recommendation, a resume and a statement of professional goals, with GRE general scores recommended. Admission is for January or August, and listed program tuition is $42,000. You must keep a 3.00 GPA.
Compare
Missouri software engineering programs side by side
Missouri 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 Missouri’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 Missouri
21 schools, 27 programs in the table below.
Computer science is the neighboring degree, and many software engineers hold it. 1 program names a software engineering track, tagged below. These rows come from federal data, not from each school’s page.
School
Degree
City
ABET
Tuition 2023–24
School grad rate
Calvary University
Bachelor’s
Kansas City
$12,210
47%
Central Methodist University-College of Graduate and Extended Studies
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 Missouri
Public, in-state
$9,025
median of 6 schools
Public, out-of-state
$17,808
median of 6 schools
Private
$27,840
median of 13 schools
Living in Missouri is worth about $8,783 a year in tuition at the median public school, the gap between the two public medians. Over a four-year degree that is roughly $35,132, before any change in rates.
Prices in Missouri were 90.8 against a national 100 in 2024, and housing 69.9, 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 19 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 Missouri
Missouri employed 20,020 software developers in May 2025. Its location quotient for the occupation is 0.63: 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, Missouri. 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, 2 are in Missouri. 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 Missouri
$72,57010th
$97,54025th
$126,120median
$155,01075th
$169,34090th
Software developers, Missouri, BLS OEWS May 2025. National median: $135,980.
The state median is $126,120, $9,860 below the national $135,980. Half of the state’s software developers earn between $97,540 and $155,010.
BEA puts prices in Missouri at 90.8 against a national 100 (2024), so the median goes as far as $138,900 would nationally, $2,920 more than the national median.
BEA price parities, 2024; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Online options
Online software engineering degrees for Missouri residents
If no program in Missouri fits, these are the highest-scoring online programs in our rankings. Confirm with each school that it enrolls students living in Missouri.
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 Missouri?
2 degrees titled software engineering, 1 bachelor’s and 1 master’s, at 2 schools. 1 of them is on ABET’s accredited list.
What is the best software engineering school in Missouri?
University of Central Missouri ranks first of the 1 ranked bachelor’s programs in Missouri, with a score of 72.0 out of 100 (#15 nationally). The score combines completion, net price, ABET accreditation and program size.
Which software engineering programs in Missouri are ABET-accredited?
University of Central Missouri (bachelor’s), according to ABET’s accredited program list retrieved 2026-09-30.
How much does a software engineering degree cost in Missouri?
Across Missouri’s public schools in this guide, median undergraduate tuition for 2023–24 was $9,025 for residents and $17,808 for nonresidents; at private schools the median was $27,840. These IPEDS figures exclude fees and housing.
How much do software engineers make in Missouri?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that includes software engineers, earned a median of $126,120 in Missouri in May 2025. The 10th percentile was $72,570 and the 90th $169,340.
Is Missouri pay worth it after cost of living?
BEA puts Missouri’s prices at 90.8 against a national 100 in 2024. Divided by that, the developer median of $126,120 is worth about $138,900 at national prices.
Can Missouri 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 Missouri.
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 .
