Ohio has 7 programs titled software engineering at 6 schools, 2 accredited by ABET, and 49 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
7
titled software engineering
ABET-accredited
2
ABET’s list, 2026-09-30
Computer science programs
49
IPEDS 2024
Median pay, software developers
$114,090
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Key takeaways
01Ohio has 7 degrees titled software engineering, 4 bachelor’s and 3 master’s, at 6 schools, plus 49 computer science programs. 2 of the software engineering programs are on ABET’s accredited list. Miami University ranks first among the state’s bachelor’s programs, with a score of 71.2 out of 100, #16 nationally. Each program below is checked against the school’s own page.
02At Ohio’s public schools, the median undergraduate tuition for 2023–24 was $12,074 in state and $19,428 out of state, so residency saves about $7,354 a year at the median. Private schools had a median of $38,250. These IPEDS figures are one per school and leave out fees, housing and financial aid.
03Software developers in Ohio earned a median of $114,090 in May 2025, against $135,980 nationally, and half earned between $96,200 and $135,490. The state employed 44,790 of them. Nationally, BLS projects the occupation to grow 10.2% from 2025 to 2035, against 3.5% for all occupations.
04Prices in Ohio were 7.2% below the national average in 2024, by the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s measure, and housing stood at 73 against a national 100. At national prices, the state’s developer median goes as far as about $122,940. BEA’s 2024 figures are its latest, a year behind the pay data.
05Neighboring states with programs titled software engineering: Pennsylvania (9), Indiana (6), Michigan (6) 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 Ohio
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. Ohio offers both, and many software engineers hold either one.
What this page covers
Software engineering programs: the 7 bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Ohio titled software engineering, each checked against the school’s own page.
Computer science programs: the state’s 49 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 Ohio 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 Ohio: 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
Miami University: #16 of 75 nationally
Miami University leads in Ohio with 71.2 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 5 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
Cleveland State: #10 of 44 nationally
Cleveland State leads in Ohio with 68.8 out of 100
Across the country the median master’s score is 52.0 and the highest is 86.9. Its biggest gap is program size, where it earns 12.8 of 30 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.
Not ranked. One program here has no score, because a figure the score needs wouldn’t describe it: Bowling Green State (sets its own tuition, so the federal figure our score uses doesn’t apply). We never score a program on a guess.
Each program is ranked against the others in Ohio 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 Ohio
Not ranked
Bachelor’s in software engineering
4 programs
#1 in Ohio
71.2of 100
Miami University
Oxford, OH
BSCampus
In-state
$14,052
Out-of-state
$35,116
Completion
82%
✓ ABET-accredited
Highest school graduation rate of Ohio’s 4 bachelor’s programs
Zero-credit Career Foundations course every semester
Miami's bulletin lists 92 semester hours for the software engineering major. The math block asks for Calculus I and Elements of Discrete Mathematics (or Proof), plus Applied Statistics, then three more math or statistics electives. You also take two natural science electives from biology, chemistry or physics sequences. Software courses include Introduction to Software Engineering, Data Abstraction and Data Structures, Systems I, Cybersecurity basics and Object-Oriented Programming, and the major ends with Senior Design Project I and II at two credits each.
Twelve hours of CSE electives are required, with options such as Mobile App Development, Game Design and Implementation, Applied Cryptography and Machine Learning. Courses in math, science and the College of Engineering and Computing that count toward the major must be taken for a letter grade. Students with two or more majors in the college need at least 15 unique additional credit hours in each. A zero-credit Career Foundations course, CEC 190, is required every semester for newer entrants. The page also describes honors work in computer science and software engineering.
#2 in Ohio
69.7of 100
Bowling Green State
Bowling Green, OH
BSCampus
In-state
$11,010
Out-of-state
$18,998
Completion
65%
✓ ABET-accredited
Lowest in-state tuition of Ohio’s 4 bachelor’s programs
At BGSU, the Department of Computer Science houses the software engineering BS, which ABET accredits through its Engineering Accreditation Commission. Coursework covers the methodologies, processes and tools for designing, developing and maintaining software as part of a team, and it ends with a software engineering team project, also called the capstone. The department pairs that with an internship or co-op experience, and it says students land them through its cooperative education program. Sample courses include Software Security, Mobile Application Development, Database Management Systems and Software Engineering Capstone Project.
The major asks for a math score of 550 or higher on the SAT, or 22 or higher on the ACT. If you fall short, you finish a math course or reach the placement score at BGSU before you declare. You don't need programming experience coming in, because many high schools don't offer it. The department backs student chapters of the ACM and the ACM Council on Women in Computing, and first-year students living on campus can join the AIMS Learning Community for STEM majors. The degree also leads into the university's master's in computer science, which offers a software engineering specialization.
#3 in Ohio
38.2of 100
Franciscan University of Steubenville
Steubenville, OH
BSCampus
In-state
$32,070
Out-of-state
$32,070
Completion
74%
Franciscan offers software engineering as a 125-credit, on-campus bachelor's in Steubenville, Ohio, at $650 per credit. The software engineering core includes Software Architecture and Patterns, Requirements Analysis, Database Systems, Software Process and Quality Assurance, Linux and Scripting, and a two-course Senior Capstone Project. You also take calculus, linear algebra, discrete mathematics and physics with labs, plus Foundations of Ethics and four one-credit Catholicism, Science, and Technology courses.
Your electives are two software engineering or computer science courses, one cybersecurity course, a statistics course and an upper-level math or natural science course. A 12-credit concentration in cybersecurity covers Cryptography and Cybersecurity I, II and III. Applying is free, takes about 15 minutes online and needs no letters of recommendation. You submit official transcripts and an SAT, ACT or CLT score. If your cumulative weighted GPA is 3.2 or higher, you can send a one-page essay in place of the score. The listed careers include software engineer, DevOps engineer, systems engineer and software architect.
#4 in Ohio
33.6of 100
Baldwin Wallace University
Berea, OH
BSCampus
In-state
$37,686
Out-of-state
$37,686
Completion
65%
Co-op required
Capstone option maintains live software for a Guatemala clinic
Baldwin Wallace builds an internship into its software engineering major, and the curriculum page says students complete at least one summer internship. Most end up with several before they graduate. The capstone runs two semesters. In a small team you analyze, design, develop, test and maintain a large software system, and most of the projects come from industry partners. One version is the Mission Guatemala Medical Clinic Senior Project, a practicum run like a consulting practice. Teams keep live software running for a clinic and add features at the client's request, and in odd-numbered years members can travel to Guatemala.
On top of the computing core, courses in requirements, testing and project management cover the whole development life cycle. BW also runs a User Experience Research Lab where computing students test software for internal and external clients through observation, interviews, click-stream analysis and eye-tracking. Software engineering is offered as a major and as a minor. Ohio residents entering as first-year or transfer students can apply to the Choose Ohio First STEM Scholars Program, which awards renewable scholarships.
Master’s in software engineering
3 programs, 2 ranked
#1 in Ohio
68.8of 100
Cleveland State
Cleveland, OH
MSCampus
Tuition
$10,840
Out-of-state
$18,543
Grads/yr
13.3
Open to applicants with a bachelor's in any discipline
Cleveland State's MSSE is described in the graduate catalog as the first of its kind in Ohio, and it emphasizes the architecture, design, quality, management and economics of software engineering. Core courses are Software Engineering, Software Project Management, Software Quality Assurance and Software Design and Architecture, and electives are CIS courses at the 500 level or higher. There are two routes: with a thesis, or without one. The thesis option is 24 credit hours of coursework plus 6 of thesis, for 30 in all, and it ends with committee acceptance and an oral defense. The non-thesis option is 30 hours of coursework plus 2 hours of the Software Engineering Project, CIS 638, for 32 in all, and it needs at least two 600-level electives.
The department encourages anyone heading toward a doctoral degree to take the thesis route. Admission asks for a cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or better and a four-year degree in any discipline. If you do not have a bachelor's in computer science or software engineering, you may be assigned preparatory courses such as Introduction to Programming, Data Structures & Algorithms, Systems Programming and Discrete Mathematics, and none of them count toward the degree. The department offers research and teaching assistantships and graduate tuition grants, and internships in local industry are available.
#2 in Ohio
52.8of 100
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH
MSCampus
Tuition
$13,224
Out-of-state
$24,996
Grads/yr
2.3
Core requires an interpersonal skills course, such as leadership
Cincinnati's Master of Engineering in Software Engineering is a 30 credit degree with a one year minimum duration, offered through the College of Engineering & Applied Science. It is a Master of Engineering rather than a Master of Science. It touches the major areas of the field, namely software testing, requirements engineering, large-scale software work and embedded and cyber-physical systems. Required software courses are Requirements Engineering, Large Scale Software Engineering and Advanced Software Engineering. Software Testing and Quality Assurance is the required project and task management course, and you add one interpersonal skills course from a list that includes Management of Professionals, Fundamentals of Leadership and Applied Leadership of Project Teams.
You then choose three software electives from a list that includes Database Theory, Introduction to Cloud Computing, Formal Methods, Deep Learning, Software Architecture and Parallel Computing. The degree ends with an MEng Capstone Project, an MEng Seminar, or both, and up to 6 credits of that count toward the degree. Most of the required courses carry a C minimum. The minimum credit hours can vary with earlier credits or your placement into required coursework. The University of Cincinnati and all of its regional campuses are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
Not ranked 1 program, each missing something the score needs
Not rankedSets its own tuition, so the federal figure our score uses doesn’t apply
Bowling Green State
Bowling Green, OH
MSOnline
Published rate
$615 per credit hour
Grads/yr
14
Online
Largest master’s program in Ohio by graduates a year
BGSU's Master of Science in Software Engineering is 100% online and totals 30 credit hours at $615.00 per credit hour. That rate includes instructional and general fees, and out-of-state students pay a surcharge of no more than $11 per credit. The curriculum has three parts: software engineering fundamentals (12 credits), advanced software engineering principles (12 credits) and a culminating capstone (6 credits). The fundamentals cover programming and data structures, database management, software development principles and software development with AI, and they are built for learners coming from fields outside computing.
The advanced courses take up requirements analysis, quality assurance, DevOps and Agile project management. In the capstone you spend two semesters on a real software problem with an industry partner or a project sponsor, working the full development lifecycle from design to deployment. You can finish full time in three semesters, including one summer, or part time in six semesters, including two summers. You don't need a computer science or software engineering background to start. The program sits in the Department of Computer Science in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Compare
Ohio software engineering programs side by side
Ohio software engineering programs compared, by level
A published rate is the school’s own price, shown but not scored.
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 Ohio’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 Ohio
41 schools, 48 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 Air Force Institute of Technology-Graduate School of Engineering & Management.
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 Ohio
Public, in-state
$12,074
median of 8 schools
Public, out-of-state
$19,428
median of 8 schools
Private
$38,250
median of 25 schools
Living in Ohio is worth about $7,354 a year in tuition at the median public school, the gap between the two public medians. Over a four-year degree that is roughly $29,416, before any change in rates.
Prices in Ohio were 92.8 against a national 100 in 2024, and housing 73, 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 33 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 Ohio
Ohio employed 44,790 software developers in May 2025. Its location quotient for the occupation is 0.74: 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, Ohio. 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, 3 are in Ohio. 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 Ohio
$77,79010th
$96,20025th
$114,090median
$135,49075th
$168,40090th
Software developers, Ohio, BLS OEWS May 2025. National median: $135,980.
The state median is $114,090, $21,890 below the national $135,980. Half of the state’s software developers earn between $96,200 and $135,490.
BEA puts prices in Ohio at 92.8 against a national 100 (2024), so the median goes as far as $122,940 would nationally, $13,040 less than the national median.
BEA price parities, 2024; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Online options
Online software engineering degrees for Ohio residents
If no program in Ohio fits, these are the highest-scoring online programs in our rankings. Confirm with each school that it enrolls students living in Ohio.
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 Ohio?
7 degrees titled software engineering, 4 bachelor’s and 3 master’s, at 6 schools. 2 of them are on ABET’s accredited list.
What is the best software engineering school in Ohio?
Miami University ranks first of the 4 ranked bachelor’s programs in Ohio, with a score of 71.2 out of 100 (#16 nationally). The score combines completion, net price, ABET accreditation and program size.
Which software engineering programs in Ohio are ABET-accredited?
Bowling Green State (bachelor’s) and Miami University (bachelor’s), according to ABET’s accredited program list retrieved 2026-09-30.
How much does a software engineering degree cost in Ohio?
Across Ohio’s public schools in this guide, median undergraduate tuition for 2023–24 was $12,074 for residents and $19,428 for nonresidents; at private schools the median was $38,250. These IPEDS figures exclude fees and housing.
How much do software engineers make in Ohio?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that includes software engineers, earned a median of $114,090 in Ohio in May 2025. The 10th percentile was $77,790 and the 90th $168,400.
Is Ohio pay worth it after cost of living?
BEA puts Ohio’s prices at 92.8 against a national 100 in 2024. Divided by that, the developer median of $114,090 is worth about $122,940 at national prices.
Can Ohio 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 Ohio.
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 .
