Software Engineering Degrees Near Cincinnati for 2027
The Cincinnati area has 2 programs titled software engineering at 2 schools, 1 accredited by ABET, and 1 computer science program. 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 Cincinnati’s city limits, so this guide covers the whole Cincinnati, OH-KY-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
1
IPEDS 2024
Median pay, software developers
$121,420
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Key takeaways
01The Cincinnati area has 2 degrees titled software engineering, 1 bachelor’s and 1 master’s, at 2 schools, plus 1 computer science program. 1 of the software engineering programs is on ABET’s accredited list. Miami University ranks first among the area’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.
02Software developers in the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN metro area earned a median of $121,420 in May 2025, against $114,090 across Ohio and $135,980 nationally. The metro area employed 9,900 of them. Nationally, BLS projects the occupation to grow 10.2% from 2025 to 2035, against 3.5% for all occupations.
03Prices near Cincinnati were 4.6% below the national average in 2024, by the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s measure, and housing stood at 87.6 against a national 100. At national prices, the metro area’s developer median goes as far as about $127,270. BEA’s 2024 figures are its latest, a year behind the pay data.
04This page covers the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN metro area only. The Ohio guide covers all 7 programs titled software engineering across the state, 4 bachelor’s and 3 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 Cincinnati 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. Cincinnati 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 Cincinnati titled software engineering, each checked against the school’s own page.
Computer science programs: the area’s 1 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 Cincinnati 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 Cincinnati: 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
No software engineering bachelor’s is inside Cincinnati’s city limits
The highest score in the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN metro area is Miami University in Oxford, OH, 71.2 out of 100. Across the country the median bachelor’s score is 56.7 and the highest is 87.0. Miami University’s 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
University of Cincinnati: #21 of 44 nationally
University of Cincinnati leads near Cincinnati with 52.8 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 5.8 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.
Each program is ranked against the others near Cincinnati 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 Cincinnati
Not ranked
Bachelor’s in software engineering
1 program
#1 near Cincinnati
71.2of 100
Miami University
Oxford, OH · about 28 mi from central Cincinnati
BSCampus
In-state
$14,052
Out-of-state
$35,116
Completion
82%
✓ ABET-accredited
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.
Master’s in software engineering
1 program
#1 near Cincinnati
52.8of 100
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH · about 1 mi from central Cincinnati
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.
Compare
Programs side by side
Cincinnati 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 Cincinnati’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 Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN metro area whose campus is outside Cincinnati’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 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). 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 Cincinnati 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 Cincinnati were 95.4 against a national 100 in 2024, and housing 87.6, 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 Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN metro area employed 9,900 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, Cincinnati, OH-KY-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 Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN metro area.
Industry
Businesses
Employees
Payroll per employee
Computer systems design and related services
743
10,645
$116,800
Software publishers
86
5,272
$126,300
Data processing, hosting and related services
117
4,418
$108,000
Computer and electronic product manufacturing
68
4,711
$98,300
The first three of those industries employ 2.0% 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, 10,645, while software publishers pays the most per employee, $126,300.
Businesses, employees (mid-March) and annual payroll: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, metropolitan areas and United States (cbp23msa, cbp23us), private sector, Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN metro area; payroll per employee covers every job in the industry, not only developers.
Pay
What software developers earn
$78,79010th
$95,60025th
$121,420median
$138,67075th
$172,24090th
Software developers, Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN metro area, BLS OEWS May 2025. National median: $135,980.
The metro area’s median is $121,420, $14,560 below the national $135,980. Half of the metro area’s software developers earn between $95,600 and $138,670.
BEA puts prices in the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN metro area at 95.4 against a national 100 (2024), so the median goes as far as $127,270 would nationally, $8,710 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 Cincinnati 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 Cincinnati’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 Cincinnati you’ve got one bachelor’s program titled software engineering, at Miami University, plus three 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 Cincinnati, that’s two software engineering programs and five computer science programs across the metro, so you really can choose. An easy way to decide: put Miami University’s course list next to Xavier’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 Miami University and University of Cincinnati, ask how they connect students with internships. Miami University includes a capstone or senior project where you build real software with a team. With 743 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 Cincinnati is Miami University’s bachelor’s in Oxford, about 28 miles away. Check any program’s accreditation before you apply.
5
Look for your first job nearby
The Cincinnati area had 9,900 software developers in May 2025, earning a median of $121,420. The biggest software industries here are computer systems design (10,645 jobs) and software publishing (5,272 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 Cincinnati fits, these are the highest-scoring online programs in our rankings. Confirm with each school that it enrolls students living near Cincinnati.
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 Cincinnati?
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 near Cincinnati?
Miami University ranks first of the 1 ranked bachelor’s programs near Cincinnati, 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 near Cincinnati are ABET-accredited?
Miami University (bachelor’s), according to ABET’s accredited program list retrieved 2026-09-30.
How much do software engineers make near Cincinnati?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that includes software engineers, earned a median of $121,420 near Cincinnati in May 2025. The 10th percentile was $78,790 and the 90th $172,240.
Is Cincinnati pay worth it after cost of living?
BEA puts Cincinnati’s prices at 95.4 against a national 100 in 2024. Divided by that, the developer median of $121,420 is worth about $127,270 at national prices.
Who hires software engineers near Cincinnati?
No source counts software hiring by company the same way in every metro, so we don’t name employers. The Census Bureau counted 743 computer systems design businesses in the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN metro area in 2023, employing 10,645 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 Cincinnati 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 Cincinnati.
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 Cincinnati to the nearest ABET-accredited software engineering program (straight line).
