Software Engineering Degrees Near Houston for 2027
The Houston area has 1 program titled software engineering at 1 school, and 3 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 Houston’s city limits, so this guide covers the whole Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX 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
3
IPEDS 2024
Median pay, software developers
$129,440
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Key takeaways
01The Houston area has 1 degree titled software engineering, a master’s, at 1 school, plus 3 computer science programs. UH-Clear Lake ranks first among the area’s master’s programs, with a score of 59.5 out of 100, #14 nationally. Each program below is checked against the school’s own page. It is UH-Clear Lake’s master’s (22 miles from Houston’s center). Across Texas as a whole, 10 programs carry the title.
02Software developers in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area earned a median of $129,440 in May 2025, against $132,150 across Texas and $135,980 nationally. The metro area employed 22,940 of them. Nationally, BLS projects the occupation to grow 10.2% from 2025 to 2035, against 3.5% for all occupations.
03Prices near Houston were 1.4% below the national average in 2024, by the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s measure, and housing stood at 104.5 against a national 100. At national prices, the metro area’s developer median goes as far as about $131,280. BEA’s 2024 figures are its latest, a year behind the pay data.
04This page covers the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area only. The Texas guide covers all 10 programs titled software engineering across the state, 4 bachelor’s and 6 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 Houston 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. Houston 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 Houston titled software engineering, each checked against the school’s own page.
Computer science programs: the area’s 3 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 Houston 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 Houston: 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
UH-Clear Lake: #14 of 44 nationally
No software engineering master’s is inside Houston’s city limits
The highest score in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area is UH-Clear Lake in Pasadena, TX, 59.5 out of 100. Across the country the median master’s score is 52.0 and the highest is 86.9. UH-Clear Lake’s biggest gap is cost, where it earns 24 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 Houston 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 Houston
Not ranked
Master’s in software engineering
1 program
#1 near Houston
59.5of 100
UH-Clear Lake
Houston, TX · about 22 mi from central Houston
MSCampus + online
Tuition
$7,920
Out-of-state
$17,532
Grads/yr
36.3
Online
Specializations in gaming, robotics and data mining
The M.S. in Software Engineering at UH-Clear Lake covers how software systems are managed, planned, designed and built, using foundations, methodologies and tools, with a balance of theory and practice. Students finish with either a capstone option or a thesis option, and there are four optional specializations: data mining, gaming, robotics software and software project management. The program is taught face to face and fully online.
A computer science undergraduate degree is the best preparation, but a computing or engineering degree also qualifies, and other degrees may be acceptable with significant work experience in software development. Prerequisite coursework is Data Structures plus at least two further programming classes (C, C++, Java or object-oriented programming, for instance). Applicants need a 3.0 GPA, and the GRE is not required. A Program Qualification Estimator helps applicants check whether they meet requirements. New degree-seeking students can start in fall, spring or summer.
Compare
Programs side by side
Houston 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 Houston’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 Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area whose campus is outside Houston’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
3 schools 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 Houston 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 Houston were 98.6 against a national 100 in 2024, and housing 104.5, 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 Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area employed 22,940 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, Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX. 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 Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area.
Industry
Businesses
Employees
Payroll per employee
Computer systems design and related services
3,471
30,363
$111,900
Software publishers
267
8,866
$147,900
Data processing, hosting and related services
289
8,628
$157,500
Computer and electronic product manufacturing
263
11,434
$97,100
The first three of those industries employ 1.7% 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, 30,363, while data processing, hosting and related services pays the most per employee, $157,500.
Businesses, employees (mid-March) and annual payroll: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, metropolitan areas and United States (cbp23msa, cbp23us), private sector, Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area; payroll per employee covers every job in the industry, not only developers.
Pay
What software developers earn
$80,40010th
$101,19025th
$129,440median
$159,45075th
$181,77090th
Software developers, Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area, BLS OEWS May 2025. National median: $135,980.
The metro area’s median is $129,440, $6,540 below the national $135,980. Half of the metro area’s software developers earn between $101,190 and $159,450.
BEA puts prices in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area at 98.6 against a national 100 (2024), so the median goes as far as $131,280 would nationally, $4,700 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 Houston 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 Houston’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 Houston is titled software engineering (UH-Clear Lake offers a master’s for later), but you’ve got four computer science bachelor’s programs across the metro, including HCU, University of St Thomas, North American University and one 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 Houston, that’s one software engineering program and seven computer science programs across the metro, so you really can choose. An easy way to decide: put UH-Clear Lake’s course list next to Texas Southern University’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 UH-Clear Lake, ask how they connect students with internships. UH-Clear Lake includes a capstone or senior project where you build real software with a team. With 3,471 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 Houston is UT Arlington’s bachelor’s in Arlington, about 227 miles away. Check any program’s accreditation before you apply.
5
Look for your first job nearby
The Houston area had 22,940 software developers in May 2025, earning a median of $129,440. The biggest software industries here are computer systems design (30,363 jobs) and computer and electronics manufacturing (11,434 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 Houston fits, these are the highest-scoring online programs in our rankings. Confirm with each school that it enrolls students living near Houston.
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 Houston?
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 Houston?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that includes software engineers, earned a median of $129,440 near Houston in May 2025. The 10th percentile was $80,400 and the 90th $181,770.
Is Houston pay worth it after cost of living?
BEA puts Houston’s prices at 98.6 against a national 100 in 2024. Divided by that, the developer median of $129,440 is worth about $131,280 at national prices.
Who hires software engineers near Houston?
No source counts software hiring by company the same way in every metro, so we don’t name employers. The Census Bureau counted 3,471 computer systems design businesses in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area in 2023, employing 30,363 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 Houston 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 Houston.
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 Houston to the nearest ABET-accredited software engineering program (straight line).
