Utah has 6 programs titled software engineering at 6 schools, 2 accredited by ABET, and 12 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
6
titled software engineering
ABET-accredited
2
ABET’s list, 2026-09-30
Computer science programs
12
IPEDS 2024
Median pay, software developers
$128,810
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Key takeaways
01Utah has 6 degrees titled software engineering, all bachelor’s, at 6 schools, plus 12 computer science programs. 2 of the software engineering programs are on ABET’s accredited list. Utah Valley University ranks first among the state’s bachelor’s programs, with a score of 76.8 out of 100, #9 nationally. Each program below is checked against the school’s own page.
02At Utah’s public schools, the median undergraduate tuition for 2023–24 was $5,720 in state and $17,587 out of state, so residency saves about $11,867 a year at the median. Private schools had a median of $7,434. These IPEDS figures are one per school and leave out fees, housing and financial aid.
03Software developers in Utah earned a median of $128,810 in May 2025, against $135,980 nationally, and half earned between $100,530 and $160,570. The state employed 31,940 of them. Nationally, BLS projects the occupation to grow 10.2% from 2025 to 2035, against 3.5% for all occupations.
04Prices in Utah were 1.1% below the national average in 2024, by the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s measure, and housing stood at 107.8 against a national 100. At national prices, the state’s developer median goes as far as about $130,240. BEA’s 2024 figures are its latest, a year behind the pay data.
05Neighboring states with programs titled software engineering: Arizona (9), Colorado (1) and Idaho (1). 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 Utah
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. Utah offers both, and many software engineers hold either one.
What this page covers
Software engineering programs: the 6 bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Utah titled software engineering, each checked against the school’s own page.
Computer science programs: the state’s 12 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 Utah 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 Utah: 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
Utah Valley University: #9 of 75 nationally
Utah Valley University leads in Utah with 76.8 out of 100
Across the country the median bachelor’s score is 56.7 and the highest is 87.0. Its biggest gap is completion, where it earns 16.1 of 35 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 in Utah 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 Utah
Not ranked
Bachelor’s in software engineering
6 programs
#1 in Utah
76.8of 100
Utah Valley University
Orem, UT
BSCampus
In-state
$5,614
Out-of-state
$17,174
Completion
46%
✓ ABET-accredited
Matriculation into Utah Valley University's software engineering major requires CS 1400, CS 1410, CS 2300, CS 2420 and CS 2450 with a grade of C+ or better, and an overall GPA of 2.5 or higher. The degree then takes 120 credits, at least 40 of them upper-division and at least 30 earned through attendance at UVU. Required courses include Software Engineering II (CS 4400), Software Testing and Quality Engineering (CS 4230), Principles and Patterns of Software Design (CS 3450), Human Factors in Software Development (CS 3410), Database Theory (CS 3520) and Data Privacy and Security (CS 2900).
You choose one software development course in Java, C++, C#, Python or JavaScript, among others, and fill 15 credits with computer science electives numbered 3000 or higher. The program frames software engineers as people who work with users and customers to understand their needs, and it emphasizes modern development methodologies, including Agile. Accreditation comes from the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET.
#2 in Utah
72.5of 100
Snow College
Ephraim, UT
BSCampus
In-state
$4,180
Out-of-state
$13,746
Completion
43%
✓ ABET-accredited
Lowest in-state tuition of Utah’s 6 bachelor’s programs
Snow College admits you to the software engineering program in two steps. Any admitted student starts as pre-major, completes CS 1410 with its lab, CS 2420, CS 2700, CS 2860 and MATH 1210, and then applies for full-major status, which you need before taking upper-division software engineering courses. The degree totals 120 hours, including 83 credits of required courses such as Secure Coding Practices, Cloud Application Development, Mobile Application Development and Distributed Application Development.
Courses use student teams and active learning, and every student gets leadership opportunities such as software development team lead roles. The curriculum ends in a year-long capstone sequence where teams build a software system reflective of current industry practice, and students are encouraged to complete internships before and during it. The review committee weighs your ability to complete the program, your potential as a software engineer, your goals, and your ability to work in teams. You need a C- or higher in every core and elective course. ABET's Engineering Accreditation Commission accredits the BSSE.
#3 in Utah
63.0of 100
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT
BSCampus
In-state
$6,496
Out-of-state
$6,496
Completion
84%
Highest school graduation rate of Utah’s 6 bachelor’s programs
Brigham Young University offers software engineering as an emphasis within its Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. The emphasis starts with the fundamentals of programming, data structures, algorithms, software design, mathematics, and statistics, and adds required courses in software design, testing, and databases. Three lab courses, Software Engineering Lab 1, 2, and 3, run alongside the core so you gain experience with common tools used in the field. Other required courses include Advanced Software Construction, QA & DevOps, Software Design, Web Programming, Systems Programming, and Database Modeling Concepts.
In total you complete 19 core courses, plus calculus, linear algebra, statistics, and technical writing, and two more courses chosen from a list that includes human computer interaction, machine learning, operating systems, and computer security. Every student finishes with a two-course capstone, working with a small team on an industry-sponsored project while receiving mentoring from an industry professional. Grades below C- are not allowed in major courses, and you complete a senior exit interview with the department during your last semester.
#4 in Utah
56.8of 100
Western Governors
Salt Lake City, UT
BSOnline
In-state
$7,710
Out-of-state
$7,710
Completion
48%
Largest bachelor’s program in Utah by graduates a year
Accelerated route from the bachelor's into a master's
WGU's software engineering B.S. is fully online and competency-based: you move on as soon as you show you know the material, and you complete a set number of competency units each term. The program has 39 courses and a Java-focused curriculum covering full-stack development, cloud-native deployment, APIs, databases, software security, quality assurance and agile and DevOps practices. Named courses include Data Structures and Algorithms I, Object Oriented Programming in Python, JavaScript Programming, Java Frameworks builds object-oriented programming expertise, AWS Developer and Agile for Software Engineering, along with dedicated AI coursework.
Tuition is $4,125 per six-month term, charged by term and not by credit, so finishing faster lowers the total. The program includes five certifications at no additional cost: AWS Certified Developer Associate, ITIL 4, and WGU Front End, Back End and Full Stack Developer. Eligible students can also take an accelerated route that adds graduate-level courses and leads into WGU's software engineering master's. Start dates fall on the first of every month.
#5 in Utah
40.4of 100
Utah Tech University
Saint George, UT
BSCampus
In-state
$5,266
Out-of-state
$16,834
Completion
42%
Getting into the software engineering major at Utah Tech takes two steps. Students first declare the Associate of Programming and finish its requirements with a C or higher, and then the major is switched to Software Engineering.
The 120-credit degree requires at least 40 upper-division credits and is designed to teach the practical elements of producing reliable software in a professional setting, building on core computer science foundations.
#6 in Utah
37.9of 100
Ensign College
Salt Lake City, UT
BSCampus
In-state
$3,888
Out-of-state
$3,888
Completion
29%
Three-year bachelor's path with an AI Full Stack certificate
Ensign awards a Bachelor of Applied Science, with software engineering as the focus inside its information technology offerings. You can take it in a three-year or a four-year format, with six semesters as the minimum for the first and eight for the second. Every Ensign degree starts with a certificate, and here the options are Technical Support Engineer, User Experience (UX) Design and User Interface (UI) Design, and an AI Full Stack option that only the three-year path offers. After the certificate come upper-division courses and AI core courses.
The curriculum stresses full-stack development, cloud deployment and applying AI and large language models in working applications, all inside agile project management. Topics named include object-oriented programming, building AI data pipelines, managing AI operations, solving technical problems and using project management frameworks. In the upper division you also practice mentoring and assisting other group members, and you finish with several software projects in your portfolio. Faculty are currently employed in the industries they teach.
Compare
Utah software engineering programs side by side
Utah 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 Utah’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 Utah
8 schools, 9 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 Brigham Young University, Utah Valley University and Weber State.
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 Utah
Public, in-state
$5,720
median of 6 schools
Public, out-of-state
$17,587
median of 6 schools
Private
$7,434
median of 4 schools
Living in Utah is worth about $11,867 a year in tuition at the median public school, the gap between the two public medians. Over a four-year degree that is roughly $47,468, before any change in rates.
Prices in Utah were 98.9 against a national 100 in 2024, and housing 107.8, 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 10 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 Utah
Utah employed 31,940 software developers in May 2025. Its location quotient for the occupation is 1.7: the jobs are more 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, Utah. 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, 1 is in Utah. 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 Utah
$77,81010th
$100,53025th
$128,810median
$160,57075th
$177,97090th
Software developers, Utah, BLS OEWS May 2025. National median: $135,980.
The state median is $128,810, $7,170 below the national $135,980. Half of the state’s software developers earn between $100,530 and $160,570.
BEA puts prices in Utah at 98.9 against a national 100 (2024), so the median goes as far as $130,240 would nationally, $5,740 less than the national median.
BEA price parities, 2024; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Online options
Online software engineering degrees for Utah residents
If no program in Utah fits, these are the highest-scoring online programs in our rankings. Confirm with each school that it enrolls students living in Utah.
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 Utah?
6 degrees titled software engineering, all bachelor’s, at 6 schools. 2 of them are on ABET’s accredited list.
What is the best software engineering school in Utah?
Utah Valley University ranks first of the 6 ranked bachelor’s programs in Utah, with a score of 76.8 out of 100 (#9 nationally). The score combines completion, net price, ABET accreditation and program size.
Which software engineering programs in Utah are ABET-accredited?
Snow College (bachelor’s) and Utah Valley University (bachelor’s), according to ABET’s accredited program list retrieved 2026-09-30.
How much does a software engineering degree cost in Utah?
Across Utah’s public schools in this guide, median undergraduate tuition for 2023–24 was $5,720 for residents and $17,587 for nonresidents; at private schools the median was $7,434. These IPEDS figures exclude fees and housing.
How much do software engineers make in Utah?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that includes software engineers, earned a median of $128,810 in Utah in May 2025. The 10th percentile was $77,810 and the 90th $177,970.
Is Utah pay worth it after cost of living?
BEA puts Utah’s prices at 98.9 against a national 100 in 2024. Divided by that, the developer median of $128,810 is worth about $130,240 at national prices.
Can Utah 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 Utah.
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 .
