Software Engineering Degrees Near St. Louis for 2027
The St. Louis area has 1 program titled software engineering at 1 school, and 2 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 St. Louis’s city limits, so this guide covers the whole St. Louis, MO-IL 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
2
IPEDS 2024
Median pay, software developers
$129,030
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Key takeaways
01The St. Louis area has 1 degree titled software engineering, a master’s, at 1 school, plus 2 computer science programs. Saint Louis University ranks first among the area’s master’s programs, with a score of 33.0 out of 100, #41 nationally. Each program below is checked against the school’s own page. It is Saint Louis University’s master’s (1 mile from St. Louis’s center).
02Software developers in the St. Louis, MO-IL metro area earned a median of $129,030 in May 2025, against $126,120 across Missouri and $135,980 nationally. The metro area employed 9,820 of them. Nationally, BLS projects the occupation to grow 10.2% from 2025 to 2035, against 3.5% for all occupations.
03Prices near St. Louis were 4.9% below the national average in 2024, by the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s measure, and housing stood at 79 against a national 100. At national prices, the metro area’s developer median goes as far as about $135,680. BEA’s 2024 figures are its latest, a year behind the pay data.
04This page covers the St. Louis, MO-IL metro area only. The Missouri guide covers all 2 programs titled software engineering across the state, 1 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 St. Louis 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. St. Louis 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 St. Louis titled software engineering, each checked against the school’s own page.
Computer science programs: the area’s 2 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 St. Louis 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 St. Louis: 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
Saint Louis University: #41 of 44 nationally
Saint Louis University leads near St. Louis 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 near St. Louis 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 St. Louis
Not ranked
Master’s in software engineering
1 program
#1 near St. Louis
33.0of 100
Saint Louis University
Saint Louis, MO · about 1 mi from central St. Louis
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
Programs side by side
St. Louis 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 St. Louis’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 St. Louis, MO-IL metro area whose campus is outside St. Louis’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
1 school, 2 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 St. Louis 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 St. Louis were 95.1 against a national 100 in 2024, and housing 79, 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 St. Louis, MO-IL metro area employed 9,820 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, St. Louis, MO-IL. 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 St. Louis, MO-IL metro area.
Industry
Businesses
Employees
Payroll per employee
Computer systems design and related services
1,019
16,967
$107,300
Software publishers
88
2,968
$178,600
Data processing, hosting and related services
112
3,387
$97,500
Computer and electronic product manufacturing
55
2,845
$95,800
The first three of those industries employ 1.8% 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, 16,967, while software publishers pays the most per employee, $178,600.
Businesses, employees (mid-March) and annual payroll: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, metropolitan areas and United States (cbp23msa, cbp23us), private sector, St. Louis, MO-IL metro area; payroll per employee covers every job in the industry, not only developers.
Pay
What software developers earn
$77,73010th
$101,67025th
$129,030median
$156,32075th
$169,03090th
Software developers, St. Louis, MO-IL metro area, BLS OEWS May 2025. National median: $135,980.
The metro area’s median is $129,030, $6,950 below the national $135,980. Half of the metro area’s software developers earn between $101,670 and $156,320.
BEA puts prices in the St. Louis, MO-IL metro area at 95.1 against a national 100 (2024), so the median goes as far as $135,680 would nationally, $300 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 St. Louis 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 St. Louis’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 St. Louis is titled software engineering (Saint Louis University offers a master’s for later), but you’ve got nine computer science bachelor’s programs across the metro, including Saint Louis University, Washington University in St Louis, Missouri-St Louis and six 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 St. Louis, that’s one software engineering program and 13 computer science programs across the metro, so you really can choose. An easy way to decide: put Saint Louis University’s course list next to Washington University in St Louis’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 Saint Louis University, ask how they connect students with internships. Saint Louis University includes a capstone or senior project where you build real software with a team. With 1,019 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 St. Louis is University of Central Missouri’s bachelor’s in Warrensburg, about 189 miles away. Check any program’s accreditation before you apply.
5
Look for your first job nearby
The St. Louis area had 9,820 software developers in May 2025, earning a median of $129,030. The biggest software industries here are computer systems design (16,967 jobs) and data processing and hosting (3,387 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 St. Louis fits, these are the highest-scoring online programs in our rankings. Confirm with each school that it enrolls students living near St. Louis.
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 St. Louis?
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 St. Louis?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that includes software engineers, earned a median of $129,030 near St. Louis in May 2025. The 10th percentile was $77,730 and the 90th $169,030.
Is St. Louis pay worth it after cost of living?
BEA puts St. Louis’s prices at 95.1 against a national 100 in 2024. Divided by that, the developer median of $129,030 is worth about $135,680 at national prices.
Who hires software engineers near St. Louis?
No source counts software hiring by company the same way in every metro, so we don’t name employers. The Census Bureau counted 1,019 computer systems design businesses in the St. Louis, MO-IL metro area in 2023, employing 16,967 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 St. Louis 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 St. Louis.
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 St. Louis to the nearest ABET-accredited software engineering program (straight line).
