Top 100 US Universities in Computer Science

Posted by Rohit Mittal

A career in Computer Science could be one of the most lucrative choices in the United States. No matter, if you aspire to become a web developer, a mobile app developer, a software engineer, a systems architect, a data engineer or want to pursue your career in an academic field, Computer Science indeed opens up a number of opportunities in the US.

Ideally, most universities in the US claim a placement record of 89-93% and can provide you with an average salary of $105k to $150k. In addition, stats suggest that there are a total of 2-3 offers for each graduate student.

That said, if you want to study Computer Science in the US are not sure of the school that you should choose to go with, here are some of the best universities you should aim for.

Table of Contents

• Top 5 U.S. Universities for Computer Science
• US Top 100 Universities in Computer Science
• Conclusion

Top 5 U.S. Universities for Computer Science

1. Stanford University

The Computer Science programs at Stanford University come in the forms of Bachelors, Masters, Minor programs, Joint major programs and finally, Doctoral programs. There are various courses listed under each of these programs.

The main objectives of these programs revolve around applying the principles of Science, Mathematics and Engineering methods to analyze data, solve engineering issues, or design hardware or software components.

Some of the specialization areas include analytics, artificial intelligence, network security, mobile computing, and the likes.

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Computer Science is offered as the EECS program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology or the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science program. At the undergraduate level, this is the most popular and the biggest program.

The program curriculum focuses on practical experience in solving analytical problems, along with modeling practices. Students passing out from MIT with a Bachelor’s degree in EECS are known to draw salaries well above $100,000. The students here are basically encouraged to try their hands at experiencing the thrill of discovery through engineering methods.

3. Princeton University

Princeton University takes pride in its Computer Science department since it has housed residents like Alan Turing, Alonzo Church, and John von Neumann. This is all thanks to the 47 tenure-track and 12 teaching faculty with a strong focus on network security, graphics, programming languages, machine learning techniques, and computational biology.

In fact, in the entire university, this is the only department that gives the students the chance to get either an A.B degree or a B.S.E degree. Additionally, since the university believes in taking up practical work, every student works through at least one design project or research project to gain hands-on experience.

Once a Graduate program has been completed, the students can directly get admitted for their Ph.D. program without having to go via a Master’s degree.

4. Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University is popular mainly for their Computer Science department. There are a total of seven departments offering undergraduate degrees in Computer Science in this university.

The graduate admissions are taken by the university’s school of computer science seven degree-granting departments on a case by case basis.

In addition, there are regular seminars and events held in the department that encourage student engagement in the fields of study. These include events like CyLab Student Seminar, Computer Science Thesis Proposal, and the likes.

5. University of California–Berkley

Very similar to MIT, the University of California- Berkley offers its Computer Science education in the form of EECS or Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. When it comes to instructional computer Science programs or research programs, there is hardly any other name that can compete with the University of California- Berkley.

The Undergraduate program offers two courses- Bachelor of Arts in CS and the Bachelor of Science in EECS. While the former deals with Computer Science theory, hardware and software designs and information management, the latter works with Computer Science engineering applications.

For the graduate programs, one could either choose the industry-oriented degree programs or the research-oriented degree programs. Once again, the former groom the students for a career in the industry while the latter focusses on R&D and academic lines.

US Top 100 Universities in Computer Science

Please note that this is a ranking from the year 2010, which was published by NRC. The ranking includes Regressing and Survey-Based rankings with ranges between 5th and 95th percentile.

• S Rank (for survey-based rankings) these are based on how faculty weighted or assigned importance to 20 characteristics that the study committee determined to be factors contributing to program quality. The weights of characteristics vary by field based on faculty survey responses in each of those fields. Programs in a field rank higher if they demonstrate strength in the characteristics carrying greater weights.
• R Rank (for regression-based rankings) These depend on the weights calculated from faculty ratings of a sample of programs in their field. These ratings are related through a multiple regression and principal components analysis, to the 20 characteristics that the committee had determined to be factors of program quality. The resulting weights were then applied to data corresponding to those characteristics for each of the programs in the field.

No	Institution Name	R-Rank	S-Rank
1	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	[1-2]	[1-2]
2	MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	[2-5]	[2-12]
3	PRINCETON UNIVERSITY	[2-4]	[1-3]
4	CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY	[3-10]	[3-16]
5	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-BERKELEY	[3-6]	[3-16]
6	UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN	[4-16]	[8-42]
7	CORNELL UNIVERSITY	[5-12]	[4-21]
8	UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL	[5-14]	[6-36]
9	HARVARD UNIVERSITY	[6-22]	[3-19]
10	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-LOS ANGELES	[6-16]	[6-29]
11	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-SANTA BARBARA	[6-18]	[3-16]
12	GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	[7-28]	[14-57]
13	UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA	[7-18]	[3-15]
14	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN	[8-22]	[22-66]
15	UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK	[9-25]	[8-45]
16	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-SAN DIEGO	[10-25]	[7-35]
17	UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-ANN ARBOR	[10-25]	[12-45]
18	UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON	[10-22]	[10-48]
19	MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY	[12-32]	[10-45]
20	COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK	[13-31]	[6-30]
21	UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER	[13-32]	[7-39]
22	DUKE UNIVERSITY	[14-27]	[9-36]
23	UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST	[15-44]	[13-55]
24	UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON	[15-32]	[17-55]
25	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	[16-35]	[16-57]
26	BROWN UNIVERSITY	[17-34]	[24-59]
27	STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT STONY BROOK	[17-35]	[7-39]
28	PURDUE UNIVERSITY MAIN CAMPUS	[18-42]	[16-56]
29	LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY AND AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE	[19-39]	[13-49]
30	UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA-TWIN CITIES	[20-41]	[27-66]
31	PENN STATE UNIVERSITY	[22-45]	[15-51]
32	OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY MAIN CAMPUS	[23-46]	[26-64]
33	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE	[23-41]	[30-68]
34	TUFTS UNIVERSITY	[24-46]	[23-61]
35	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-RIVERSIDE	[24-59]	[5-34]
36	UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA	[25-43]	[20-59]
37	TEXAS A & M UNIVERSITY	[26-48]	[35-71]
38	UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO	[28-50]	[18-52]
39	UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH PITTSBURGH CAMPUS	[29-49]	[16-57]
40	ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY	[30-57]	[22-63]
41	STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO	[30-52]	[32-66]
42	UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA – LINCOLN	[30-60]	[12-45]
43	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-DAVIS	[31-54]	[15-51]
44	YALE UNIVERSITY	[31-52]	[17-59]
45	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-SANTA CRUZ	[32-57]	[31-71]
46	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA	[36-66]	[18-62]
47	RICE UNIVERSITY	[37-60]	[17-60]
48	INDIANA UNIVERSITY AT BLOOMINGTON	[38-65]	[68-100]
49	NEW YORK UNIVERSITY	[39-71]	[39-81]
50	UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER	[40-63]	[45-88]
51	UNIVERSITY OF UTAH	[40-68]	[45-81]
52	WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS	[40-72]	[17-62]
53	LEHIGH UNIVERSITY	[42-75]	[62-102]
54	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	[42-73]	[26-69]
55	GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY	[43-78]	[18-57]
56	NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY	[43-75]	[63-100]
57	FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	[45-88]	[112-124]
58	VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY	[45-78]	[45-83]
59	BOSTON UNIVERSITY	[46-91]	[14-51]
60	IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY	[47-82]	[44-83]
61	VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY	[48-87]	[22-64]
62	NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY	[50-87]	[47-94]
63	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	[51-88]	[26-67]
64	FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY	[51-90]	[19-64]
65	UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI MAIN CAMPUS	[51-91]	[59-96]
66	UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA	[51-85]	[60-96]
67	UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY	[51-95]	[17-58]
68	OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY	[52-88]	[74-110]
69	RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE	[52-93]	[46-85]
70	RUTGERS THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY NEW BRUNSWICK CAMPUS	[52-85]	[61-97]
71	UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA	[52-92]	[54-87]
72	UNIVERSITY OF IOWA	[52-91]	[81-109]
73	DARTMOUTH COLLEGE	[53-90]	[9-38]
74	UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE	[53-88]	[64-105]
75	UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA NORMAN CAMPUS	[53-92]	[46-92]
76	JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY	[54-88]	[57-94]
77	UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA	[54-89]	[52-89]
78	UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA	[54-95]	[65-98]
79	OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY MAIN CAMPUS	[55-91]	[46-82]
80	BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY	[58-90]	[92-116]
81	CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK GRAD. CENTER	[59-98]	[109-121]
82	KENT STATE UNIVERSITY MAIN CAMPUS	[59-92]	[84-108]
83	UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE	[59-95]	[55-96]
84	UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE COUNTY	[60-103]	[71-113]
85	UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT	[61-99]	[46-87]
86	FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY	[62-100]	[56-101]
87	UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO	[62-99]	[50-93]
88	ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	[65-99]	[74-109]
89	AUBURN UNIVERSITY	[67-106]	[57-104]
90	UNIVERSITY OF OREGON	[68-98]	[94-116]
91	NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	[70-104]	[66-104]
92	UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO MAIN CAMPUS	[73-109]	[80-116]
93	STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BINGHAMTON	[74-106]	[74-113]
94	COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY	[75-106]	[102-117]
95	WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY	[75-102]	[62-101]
96	WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY	[77-109]	[60-102]
97	CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY	[82-112]	[62-107]
98	GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY	[84-109]	[101-120]
99	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA COLUMBIA	[84-109]	[55-97]
100	NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY MAIN CAMPUS	[85-111]	[93-115]

Conclusion

With a good track record, intuitive academic lessons, and live projects for hands-on experience, these universities indeed prepare their students for successful careers in the field of Computer Science, both in the industry and in the academic world.

Top Computer Science Schools in the US in 2019

10:45AM Feb 27, 2019

Discover the top computer science schools based on the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2020.

The QS World University Rankings by Subject 2019, released today, includes a ranking of the 600 (extended from 500) top universities around the world for computer science, based on a methodologywhich includes academic reputation, research impact and other factors.

If you want to study computer science in the US, you’re spoilt for choice, with 109 US universities featuring in the 2019 table. Read on as we count down the study destination’s top 10, all of which make the global top 20.

10. New York University (NYU)

Up an impressive 13 spots to rank 20^th in this year’s computer science ranking, New York University (NYU) is one of the highest ranked universities in New York City, and receives a very high score for the ‘citations per paper’ indicator, a measure of research impact.

NYU has been associated with 37 Nobel Laureates and seven Turing Award winners, as well as a large number of inventions and discoveries, ranging from defibrillators, pacemakers, television, cordless telephones, contact lenses and many more.

9. Columbia University

Also based in New York, Columbia University climbed six places this year to rank joint 18^th for computer science alongside China’s Peking University. Like NYU, it gains its best score in the citations per paper indicator, and is well known as a center of important research. It benefits from its location in the huge metropolis of New York City and aims to attract a diverse student body and faculty.  One of the most selective US universities, Columbia counts 38 billionaires among its alumni.

8. University of Washington

Ranked 17^th for computer science this year and eighth in the US, the University of Washington receives high scores for both citations per paper and the ‘H-index’, another measure of research impact. The university’s Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, which opened its doors in 2003, is a state-of-the-art, 85,000 square-foot facility which cost $72 million. Computer science is one of the most popular majors at Washington, but admission is highly competitive, with only a third of undergraduate applicants successful.

=7. University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is ranked joint 13^th with Princeton University this year and earns its strongest score in the citations per paper category of the computer science ranking. UCLA is known for being the birthplace of the Internet, as nearly 50 years ago in October 1969 a team from the university sent the very first message over the ARPANET, an early computer network which formed the basis for the Internet.

=7. Princeton University

Next in our look at the top computer science schools in the US is Princeton University, down slightly this year at joint 13^th. An Ivy League university, Princeton achieves a near-perfect score for citations per faculty member as well as a high score for the H-index. Its Department of Computer Science within the School of Engineering and Applied Science has educated numerous notable figures such as the ‘father of computer science’ Alan Turing, Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos, and Google executive Eric Schmidt.

5. Harvard University

Harvard University is ranked seventh among the world’s top computer science schools and may be an ideal choice if you’re concerned about your chosen university’s reputation among graduate employers, as it receives a consistently perfect score in the employer reputation indicator. Its John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences is involved in ground-breaking research to tackle some of the fundamental problems in science and engineering, and will open a new state-of-the-art expanded campus in Allston in 2020.

4. University of California, Berkeley (UCB)

Ranked fourth both in the US and globally in the computer science ranking, the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) offers two flexible, highly selective undergraduate programs, including the Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences (EECS), which combines the fundamentals of electrical engineering and computer science in one major. The other option, a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science, gives students the flexibility to explore other fields of interest. 

3. Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University is ranked third in the world and among the top computer science schools in the US this year, once again achieving a perfect score in the academic reputation category. It’s another school known for being a center of many discoveries and innovations in this field, such as the first Wi-Fi network (created on campus in 1993), several of the first artificial intelligence software programs and programming languages, and Navlab, the first autonomous car program.

2. Stanford University

Although many of the top computer science schools featured in this list have claimed impressive scores in the citations per faculty and/or H-index indicators (both measures of research impact), none of them can overtake Stanford University, which achieved perfect scores for both.

Founded in 1965, Stanford’s Computer Science Department is unique for its location in Silicon Valley, as well as its impressive cohort of successful alumni, such as the founders or co-founders of Netflix, Google, YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp.

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

And finally, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) continues to be the world leader in this year’s computer science ranking (as well as claiming the overall number one spot in the QS World University Rankings® for seven years in a row).

Students at MIT’s School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science benefit from a vast range of programs and resources, including the Advanced Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (SuperUROP), the EECS Communication Lab, the 6-A MEng Thesis Program, and more. Like Stanford, its alumni includes the founders of household names such as Buzzfeed, DropBox, Intel, HuffPost and Hewlett-Packard.

Other top universities in the US for computer science

Of course, there are dozens more top computer science schools in the US, with 10 more institutions ranked among the global top 50, including Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) (24^th), Cornell University (25^th), California Institute of Technology (Caltech) (joint 29^th) and the University of Texas at Austin (also ranked joint 29^th).