Computer Science
What you'll do in college
Every program builds on the same spine — programming, data structures, algorithms, and computer architecture — but where the degree lives shapes how it feels. Inside an engineering college, you take the same weed-out core as every other engineer (calculus, physics, an intro engineering sequence), then lean toward the machine: operating systems, networks, embedded systems, and compilers, with ABET-accredited rigor and a senior design capstone where a team ships something real to a spec. Housed alongside math and the natural sciences, the major instead treats computing as a science — heavy on theory, discrete math, and proofs — with far fewer prescribed credits, leaving room to double major, chase a humanities minor, or load up on pure math.
Either way, expect proof-heavy problem sets and late nights. Engineering-side programs run on internships, co-ops, and getting hardware and software to finally talk to each other; science-side programs are often small enough to get you into a research lab early, and reward curiosity over checklist credits.
What you'll do after college
Most graduates head straight into software, systems, embedded, and hardware-adjacent roles — big tech, semiconductors, aerospace, robotics, and infrastructure teams that care whether you understand what happens below the API. The work is building and shipping: writing production code, profiling systems, and owning something that has to not fall over at 3 a.m. The theoretical grounding also opens doors to research, PhD programs, quantitative finance, data science, and interdisciplinary work where CS meets biology, linguistics, or economics.
Pay is high, demand is strong, and the industry pipeline is well-worn. Some grads specialize further with a master's or pivot across fields over a career, and grad school is a common next step for the ones who caught the research bug in an undergrad lab.
Famous graduates
- Marc Andreessen — Co-creator of Mosaic and co-founder of Netscape; B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Grainger College of Engineering)
- Brian Acton — Co-founder of WhatsApp; B.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University's School of Engineering
- Sergey Brin — Co-founder of Google; B.S. in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of Maryland's College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences
- Mark Zuckerberg — Co-founder of Facebook; studied Computer Science and Psychology at Harvard University before leaving to build Facebook
- Jeff Bezos — Founder of Amazon; B.S.E. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton University's School of Engineering and Applied Science
- Grace Hopper — COBOL pioneer and U.S. Navy Rear Admiral; Ph.D. in Mathematics from Yale University
- Donald Knuth — Author of "The Art of Computer Programming" and Turing Award winner; Ph.D. in Mathematics from the California Institute of Technology
Selectivity vs. earnings
By acceptance rate
By SAT median
Earnings by acceptance rate and institution category
Majors in this category
| Major | Colleges | Degrees ▼ | Male/Female | Intl | Earnings | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Science | 1,051 | 79,402 | 77% / 23% | 11% | $103,247 | 96% |
| Computer Science | 1,025 | 72,334 | 77% / 23% | 11% | $101,665 | 96% |
| Computer Programming | 37 | 1,124 | 78% / 22% | 4% | $95,050 | 95% |
| Computer Science and Engineering | 28 | 1,122 | 78% / 22% | 10% | $100,933 | 94% |
| Software Engineering | 30 | 971 | 82% / 18% | 5% | $109,141 | 98% |
| Computer Software Engineering | 45 | 857 | 79% / 21% | 8% | $104,317 | 98% |
| Computer Sciences | 1 | 766 | 82% / 18% | 34% | $131,797 | 94% |
| Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences | 1 | 505 | 78% / 22% | 12% | $195,999 | 97% |
| Computational Science | 37 | 490 | 66% / 34% | 14% | $99,383 | 100% |
| Computer Science and Engineering (Course 6-3) | 1 | 323 | 58% / 42% | 12% | $191,593 | 93% |
| Computer Science and Software Engineering | 2 | 278 | 75% / 25% | 5% | $161,145 | 95% |
| Computer Science and Systems | 1 | 163 | 79% / 21% | 3% | $111,956 | 94% |
| Computer Systems Engineering | 1 | 149 | 83% / 17% | 13% | $115,906 | 98% |
| Computing | 5 | 115 | 80% / 20% | 11% | $103,592 | 92% |
| Computer Engineering and Computer Science | 1 | 50 | 56% / 44% | 12% | $157,255 | 94% |
| Computer Science (Games) | 1 | 47 | 57% / 43% | 17% | $134,598 | 100% |
| Computing and Software Systems | 1 | 46 | 67% / 33% | 9% | $111,956 | 94% |
| Computer Programming, Specific Applications | 4 | 31 | 90% / 10% | 6% | $98,874 | 94% |
| Applied Software Engineering | 1 | 9 | 33% / 67% | 56% | $91,787 | 97% |
| Computing (CCS) | 1 | 7 | 71% / 29% | 14% | $155,866 | 96% |
| Computing Sciences | 2 | 5 | 60% / 40% | 0% | $112,036 | 98% |
| Computing Studies | 1 | 5 | 80% / 20% | 20% | $79,220 | 95% |
| Logic & Computation | 1 | 2 | 100% / 0% | 0% | $182,426 | |
| Quantum Computing | 1 | 2 | 50% / 50% | 0% | $109,793 | |
| Computer Software | 1 | 1 | 0% / 100% | 0% | $78,799 | |
| Computing and Mathematical Sciences | 1 | 0 | $190,179 |