Software Engineering and Computer Science Degrees in Rhode Island for 2027
- Software engineering programs
- 0
- titled software engineering
- Computer science programs
- 8
- IPEDS 2024
- Median pay, software developers
- $130,590
- BLS OEWS, May 2025
Key takeaways
- No college in Rhode Island awards a degree titled software engineering. The state has 8 computer science programs at 6 schools, 1 with a named software engineering track. Computer science is the degree most software engineers hold besides software engineering itself, and a software engineering degree can still be taken online from a school in another state, listed below.
- Software developers in Rhode Island earned a median of $130,590 in May 2025, against $135,980 nationally, and half earned between $101,640 and $154,040. The state employed 5,070 of them. Nationally, BLS projects the occupation to grow 10.2% from 2025 to 2035, against 3.5% for all occupations.
- Prices in Rhode Island were 2.3% above the national average in 2024, by the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s measure, and housing stood at 105.6 against a national 100. At national prices, the state’s developer median goes as far as about $127,650. BEA’s 2024 figures are its latest, a year behind the pay data.
- Neighboring states with programs titled software engineering: Connecticut (4) and Massachusetts (3). 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.
- If nothing in Rhode Island 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.
Studying software engineering in Rhode Island
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. No college in Rhode Island awards the first, so this guide covers the state’s computer science programs and the software engineering degrees taught online.
What this page covers
- Computer science programs: the state’s 8 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.
Computer science programs in Rhode Island
6 schools, 7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown | Bachelor’s · Master’s | Providence | $65,656 | 96% | |
| Johnson & Wales University | Bachelor’sSE track | Providence | $39,792 | 55% | |
| Johnson & Wales University-Online | Bachelor’s | Providence | $13,365 | 0% | |
| Providence College | Bachelor’s | Providence | $59,830 | 86% | |
| Rhode Island College | Bachelor’s | Providence | $9,481 | 48% | |
| Roger Williams University | Bachelor’s | Bristol | ✓ ABET | $42,336 | 69% |
Also offered: master’s at Roger Williams University.
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.
The software job market in Rhode Island
Rhode Island employed 5,070 software developers in May 2025. Its location quotient for the occupation is 0.93: 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.
| Occupation | Employed | Median | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software Developers | 5,070 | $130,590 | 0.93 |
| Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers | 400 | $101,790 | 0.66 |
| Computer Systems Analysts | 1,850 | $134,630 | 1.1 |
| Computer Programmers | 250 | $96,470 | 0.85 |
| Web Developers | $98,140 | – | |
| Data Scientists | 1,160 | $102,440 | 1.37 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Rhode Island. Location quotient: the state’s share of employment in the occupation divided by the national share (1.0 = the national rate); – means no published figure. Growth: BLS Employment Projections, 2025-35, national.
Metro areas
Among the 50 largest U.S. metros, 1 is in Rhode Island. Software developer employment and pay in each:
| Metro area | Software developers | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Providence-Warwick, RI-MA | 5,020 | $130,690 |
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.
What software developers earn in Rhode Island
The state median is $130,590, $5,390 below the national $135,980. Half of the state’s software developers earn between $101,640 and $154,040.
BEA puts prices in Rhode Island at 102.3 against a national 100 (2024), so the median goes as far as $127,650 would nationally, $8,330 less than the national median.
BEA price parities, 2024; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Software engineering degrees Rhode Island residents can take online
The closest route to a software engineering degree from Rhode Island is online. These are the highest-scoring online programs in our rankings. Confirm with each school that it enrolls students living in Rhode Island.
| School | National rank | Based in | Tuition 2023–24 | ABET | Score of 100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s in software engineering | |||||
| Kennesaw State | #13 | Kennesaw, GA | $15,704 | ✓ ABET | 72.5 |
| Minnesota-Crookston | #41 | Crookston, MN | $11,478 | 44.8 | |
| University of Arizona | #43 | Tucson, AZ | $37,053 | 42.8 | |
| North Dakota State | #49 | Fargo, ND | $13,963 | 38.7 | |
| Penn State World Campus | #59 | University Park, PA | $15,204 | 35.2 | |
| Master’s in software engineering | |||||
| Kennesaw State | #11 | Kennesaw, GA | $19,188 | 67.6 | |
| UH-Clear Lake | #14 | Houston, TX | $17,532 | 59.5 | |
| North Dakota State | #15 | Fargo, ND | $11,377 | 58.9 | |
| St. Cloud State | #19 | Saint Cloud, MN | $14,130 | 53.3 | |
| Washington State | #20 | Pullman, WA | $27,842 | 53.0 | |
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.
The full lists: Best Online Software Engineering Degrees and Online Master’s in Software Engineering.
More in Rhode Island
Neighboring states
Frequently asked questions
Can you study software engineering in Rhode Island?
No college in Rhode Island awards a degree titled software engineering. The state has 8 computer science programs, and software engineering degrees can be taken online from schools elsewhere.
How much do software engineers make in Rhode Island?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that includes software engineers, earned a median of $130,590 in Rhode Island in May 2025. The 10th percentile was $83,540 and the 90th $168,630.
Is Rhode Island pay worth it after cost of living?
BEA puts Rhode Island’s prices at 102.3 against a national 100 in 2024. Divided by that, the developer median of $130,590 is worth about $127,650 at national prices.
Can Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island.
Which schools in Rhode Island offer computer science degrees?
Brown University, Johnson & Wales University-Online, Johnson & Wales University, Providence College, Rhode Island College and Roger Williams University. This page lists 6 bachelor’s programs and 2 master’s programs in computer science.
Are there computer science master’s programs in Rhode Island?
Yes: 2 programs, at Brown University and Roger Williams University.
References
Every figure on this page comes from one of these, read by the site’s data scripts and computed at build time, never typed in.
- 1 NCES IPEDS 2024: completions and programs offered The program list: bachelor’s and master’s programs in software engineering and in computer science, and graduates a year (three-year average).
- 2 NCES IPEDS institutional charges, 2023–24 Tuition at the program’s level, and undergraduate tuition per school for the cost medians. Excludes fees, housing and aid.
- 3 NCES IPEDS graduation rates The school’s six-year graduation rate, for the whole school rather than the program; IPEDS DRVGR2023 where the main pull has no figure.
- 4 Each school’s own program page Program name, delivery, credits, and every bullet on the program cards, quoted from the saved page. Read .
- 5 ABET Accredited Program Search Which programs are on ABET’s accredited list. Read .
- 6 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: state estimates Employment, median and percentiles in Rhode Island for software developers; employment and median for the related occupations, and location quotients. Read .
- 7 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, metropolitan areas, May 2025 Software developer employment and median in the metro areas of Rhode Island among the 50 largest. Read .
- 8 BLS Employment Projections, 2025-35 National projected growth, 2025 to 2035. Read .
- 9 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities by State (SARPP), 2024 All-items and housing price levels for Rhode Island (US = 100), used for the price-adjusted median. Read .