Software Engineering Degrees Near Nashville for 2027
The Nashville area has 1 program titled software engineering at 1 school, and 6 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 Nashville’s city limits, so this guide covers the whole Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN 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
6
IPEDS 2024
Median pay, software developers
$126,610
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Key takeaways
01The Nashville area has 1 degree titled software engineering, a bachelor’s, at 1 school, plus 6 computer science programs. Lipscomb ranks first among the area’s bachelor’s programs, with a score of 35.9 out of 100, #58 nationally. Each program below is checked against the school’s own page. It is Lipscomb’s bachelor’s (5 miles from Nashville’s center). Across Tennessee as a whole, 1 program carries the title.
02Software developers in the Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN metro area earned a median of $126,610 in May 2025, against $122,430 across Tennessee and $135,980 nationally. The metro area employed 7,750 of them. Nationally, BLS projects the occupation to grow 10.2% from 2025 to 2035, against 3.5% for all occupations.
03Prices near Nashville were 3.7% below the national average in 2024, by the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s measure, and housing stood at 104.6 against a national 100. At national prices, the metro area’s developer median goes as far as about $131,470. BEA’s 2024 figures are its latest, a year behind the pay data.
04This page covers the Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN metro area only. The Tennessee guide covers all 1 program titled software engineering across the state, 1 bachelor’s and 0 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 Nashville 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. Nashville 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 Nashville titled software engineering, each checked against the school’s own page.
Computer science programs: the area’s 6 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 Nashville 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 Nashville: 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
Lipscomb: #58 of 75 nationally
Lipscomb leads near Nashville with 35.9 out of 100
Across the country the median bachelor’s score is 56.7 and the highest is 87.0. Its biggest gap is ABET accreditation, where it earns 0 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.
Each program is ranked against the others near Nashville 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 Nashville
Not ranked
Bachelor’s in software engineering
1 program
#1 near Nashville
35.9of 100
Lipscomb
Nashville, TN · about 5 mi from central Nashville
BSCampus
In-state
$35,848
Out-of-state
$35,848
Completion
67%
Four-course Software Studio project sequence
Lipscomb's software engineering B.S. totals 126 credit hours and is taught in person through the School of Computing. Of those, 38 hours are the university core, 70 are the major and 9 are electives from 3000 or 4000-level CS, SENG, SEC or IT courses. The core includes an engineering and computing ethics course and Technical Writing. The major pairs programming with Data Structures, Database Management Systems, Computer Organization, Operating Systems, Computer Graphics and both Design and Analysis of Algorithms and Advanced Algorithms.
Four project courses, Software Studio I through IV, run on fall and spring schedules after Introduction to Software Engineering. The math requirements are Calculus I, Discrete Mathematics, Elementary Statistics and Linear Algebra. You also take Cloud Services, Network Principles, User Interface Design and Fundamentals of Information Security. The page notes an internship is not a required course but can be taken as an elective for one to three hours. A 21-hour software engineering minor uses Software Studio I and II.
Compare
Programs side by side
Nashville 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 Nashville’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 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN metro area whose campus is outside Nashville’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
4 schools, 6 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
Private
$37,460
median of 3 schools
Prices near Nashville were 96.3 against a national 100 in 2024, and housing 104.6, 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 undergraduate tuition, one figure per school, for the 4 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 metro area, 2024, all items and housing services.
Job market
The software job market
The Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN metro area employed 7,750 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, Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN. 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 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN metro area.
Industry
Businesses
Employees
Payroll per employee
Computer systems design and related services
702
12,208
$97,900
Software publishers
139
2,184
$120,300
Data processing, hosting and related services
111
6,734
$73,500
Computer and electronic product manufacturing
32
1,652
$50,100
The first three of those industries employ 2.1% 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, 12,208, while software publishers pays the most per employee, $120,300.
Businesses, employees (mid-March) and annual payroll: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, metropolitan areas and United States (cbp23msa, cbp23us), private sector, Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN metro area; payroll per employee covers every job in the industry, not only developers.
Pay
What software developers earn
$78,41010th
$99,03025th
$126,610median
$140,17075th
$169,07090th
Software developers, Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN metro area, BLS OEWS May 2025. National median: $135,980.
The metro area’s median is $126,610, $9,370 below the national $135,980. Half of the metro area’s software developers earn between $99,030 and $140,170.
BEA puts prices in the Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN metro area at 96.3 against a national 100 (2024), so the median goes as far as $131,470 would nationally, $4,510 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 Nashville 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 Nashville’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 Nashville you’ve got one bachelor’s program titled software engineering, at Lipscomb, plus five 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 Nashville, that’s one software engineering program and eight computer science programs across the metro, so you really can choose. An easy way to decide: put Lipscomb’s course list next to Tennessee State’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. Lipscomb builds a required co-op or internship into the degree, so you’d graduate with real work on your résumé. Lipscomb includes a capstone or senior project where you build real software with a team. With 702 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 Nashville is Kennesaw State’s bachelor’s in Kennesaw, about 193 miles away. Check any program’s accreditation before you apply.
5
Look for your first job nearby
The Nashville area had 7,750 software developers in May 2025, earning a median of $126,610. The biggest software industries here are computer systems design (12,208 jobs) and data processing and hosting (6,734 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 Nashville fits, these are the highest-scoring online programs in our rankings. Confirm with each school that it enrolls students living near Nashville.
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 Nashville?
1 degree titled software engineering, a bachelor’s, at 1 school. 0 of them are on ABET’s accredited list.
What is the best software engineering school near Nashville?
Lipscomb ranks first of the 1 ranked bachelor’s programs near Nashville, with a score of 35.9 out of 100 (#58 nationally). The score combines completion, net price, ABET accreditation and program size.
How much do software engineers make near Nashville?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that includes software engineers, earned a median of $126,610 near Nashville in May 2025. The 10th percentile was $78,410 and the 90th $169,070.
Is Nashville pay worth it after cost of living?
BEA puts Nashville’s prices at 96.3 against a national 100 in 2024. Divided by that, the developer median of $126,610 is worth about $131,470 at national prices.
Who hires software engineers near Nashville?
No source counts software hiring by company the same way in every metro, so we don’t name employers. The Census Bureau counted 702 computer systems design businesses in the Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN metro area in 2023, employing 12,208 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 Nashville 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 Nashville.
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 Nashville to the nearest ABET-accredited software engineering program (straight line).
