Software Engineering Major — Salary & ROI 2026
Application of engineering principles to software development processes.
Starting Salary
$88K
median
Mid-Career
$128K
salary
ROI Payback
2.7 yrs
avg payback
Unemployment
2%
rate
Software Engineering Overview
Application of engineering principles to software development processes.
Category
STEM
Degree Level
Bachelor's
Graduation Rate
71%
Enrollment Trend
growing
Online Available
Yes
Underemployment
11%
Lifetime Premium
$1180K
Female Graduates
20%
Software Engineering Degree ROI Calculator
Estimate your actual return on investment based on school type and scholarships.
0 to $40K/year in aid
Est. Total Cost
$19,800
4-year tuition
Net Cost (w/ aid)
$19,800
after scholarships
ROI Payback
0 years
to break even
Lifetime Return
$1,160,200
Lifetime earnings premium ($1,180,000) minus net degree cost ($19,800)
Software Engineering Salary Progression
Common Software Engineering Careers
Software Developer
DevOps Engineer
QA Engineer
Top Employers
Skills You'll Learn
Top Schools for Software Engineering
#1
Carnegie Mellon
#2
MIT
#3
Stanford
#4
University of Waterloo
#5
Georgia Tech
Related Majors
Software Engineering Degree FAQ
Data Sources: Salary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Enrollment and graduation data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES/IPEDS). Tuition estimates based on College Board Annual Survey of Colleges. Last updated March 2026.
Software Engineering Programs by City
Tuition, salary outcomes, and cost of living for software engineering programs vary by city. See your local numbers:
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