The 15 best colleges for computer science degree seekers

Intelligent looked at a school's tuition costs; faculty; admission, retention and graduation rates; reputation and on-campus student resources to create the hierarchy.

As a growing number of undergraduate students each year opt to enroll in computer science, it’s important to know which schools offer the best degrees in the field.

The latest enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center shows that undergraduate enrollment in computer and information sciences was the only category of accredited programs to continually grow in the last five years without a single year of decline. Not only did computer science survive the pandemic—it thrived. Undergraduate enrollment increased by 6.2% on average with an eyebrow-raising 10.4% increase in the latest 2022 numbers. The program with the second-highest increase was natural resources and conservation at 3%. Similarly, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasted the demand for computer scientists to grow 21% by 2031, which they note is much higher than average.

With a potential salary of over $100,000 and a diverse range of job sectors to work in, it should be no surprise that computer science is an increasingly important program for schools to invest in.

Intelligent, the online news service that guides students on the college application process, administered this ranking. It looked at a school’s tuition costs; faculty; admission, retention and graduation rates; reputation; and on-campus student resources to create the hierarchy. This is their ranking of the best schools to earn computer science degrees from, abridged to the top 15.

College (Intelligent Score) Location Cost per undergraduate credit/graduate
1. Cornell University (99.2) Ithaca, NY $1,680 / $1,638
2. Princeton University (98.82) Princeton, NJ $1,851 / NA
3. Stanford University (98.25) Stanford, CA $462 / NA
4. Yale University (98.21) New Haven, CT $1,729 / NA
5. Georgia Institute of Technology (96.87) Atlanta, GA $508 / $586
6. University of California Berkeley (96.83) Berkeley, CA $381 / $390
7. Carnegie Mellon University (96.33) Pittsburgh, PA $832 / $727
8. Columbia University (96.27) New York, NY NA / $2,387
9. Duke University (96.02) Durham, NC NA / $965
10. University of California Los Angeles (95.68) Los Angeles, LA $460 (in-state)
11. Johns Hopkins (95.33) Baltimore, MD NA / $1,640
12. University of California at San Diego (94.89) San Diego, CA $542 / $874
13. University of Illinois (93.58) Champaign, IL $551 (in-state)
14. University of Southern California (93.15) Los Angeles, CA $1,763 / $2,309
15. Northwestern University (93.02) Evanston, IL $2,381 / $1,726

To better understand Intelligent’s ranking methodology, look here. For the full ranking, look here.


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Alcino Donadel
Alcino Donadel
Alcino Donadel is a UB staff writer and first-generation journalism graduate from the University of Florida. His beats have ranged from Gainesville's city development, music scene and regional little league sports divisions. He has triple citizenship from the U.S., Ecuador and Brazil.

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