Quick answer:Artificial intelligence and machine learning degrees are a recent and still small category - 102 institutions award one (IPEDS Completions, 2024) - separated here from the much larger computer science page. Programs, the careers this degree opens, and what they pay are covered below.
Why This Page Is Separate from Computer Science
CIP 11.0102, “artificial intelligence,” is a distinct program code with 102 institutions awarding it (IPEDS Completions, 2024). Until recently it sat inside this site’s computer science page, which meant an AI-specific search landed on a general CS page and the school list was not AI schools.
Separating it makes the listing honest: the colleges shown below are the ones IPEDS records as awarding this specific credential. The tradeoff is that 102 institutions is thin, which is why this page has no state or metro tier - a state page for a degree taught in 102 places nationally would be padding rather than information.
Online computer science degree remains the larger and more portable credential, and for most people it is the right first degree.
There is no programmatic accreditor in this field, so ask any program about its actual mathematics prerequisites and what compute students get for training work, and request a written transfer evaluation before you enroll. With those checks in mind, compare online artificial intelligence programs enrolling now:
Colleges Offering This Degree
Every school listed is verified in federal IPEDS data both to award this degree and to offer programs that can be completed entirely by distance education at this level. Whether this exact degree is delivered fully online varies by school, so confirm the format before you apply.
How we rank schools – graduation rate, graduate earnings, cost and retention.
Advertising plays no part.
This page lists 10 schools, closest group first, then ordered by
BOC Score with the highest at the top.
10 of them carry a score.
LOCAL RANK
Location / proximity to this page
Defines the local group
Graduation rate how often students finish
30%
Median earnings, 10 years after entry whether it paid off
25%
Average net price what students actually pay after aid; lower ranks higher
20%
Retention rate how many come back for year two
15%
Fully online availability whether you can study while working
10%
Scores come from IPEDS (2024) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.
Earnings are for all graduates of a school, not one program, so treat them as a signal
about the institution rather than about this subject.
Sponsored listings are paid placements and are labelled as such; they are separate from
this ranking and never change it. Read the full methodology.
Mathematics foundations - linear algebra, probability and statistics, multivariable calculus. This is where most career changers stall, and no program can skip it.
Machine learning - supervised and unsupervised methods, model evaluation, the practical failure modes
Deep learning - neural network architectures, training dynamics, and the compute realities
Natural language processing and computer vision - the two application areas most programs specialize into
Data engineering - pipelines, storage and feature management, which is most of the actual work
Ethics, safety and governance - increasingly required rather than optional
One practical question to ask any program: what compute do students get access to for training work? Coursework that never runs anything at scale teaches the theory and not the practice, and this is a real difference between programs.
Who This Realistically Suits
People already in technical computing roles. A master’s in AI on top of a software, data or systems background is the mainstream use of this credential and the one it is designed for.
People with a strong quantitative background from engineering, physics or statistics, for whom the mathematics is familiar territory.
Not, usually, a first move out of a trade. The mathematics prerequisites are substantial and the field assumes programming fluency on day one. Online information technology degree or online computer science degree are the realistic first steps, and either leaves this route open later.
Credit transfer is decided by the receiving institution and genuinely varies, so request a written transfer evaluation before you enroll.
Reading a Program Honestly
This is a field where program quality varies more than the credential suggests, and there is no programmatic accreditor to lean on. Four questions separate serious programs from repackaged ones.
What are the actual prerequisites? A program admitting students without linear algebra and probability is either teaching those first or teaching machine learning superficially. Both are legitimate, but you need to know which.
What compute is provided? Training anything non-trivial requires hardware or cloud budget. A program that provides neither teaches the theory only.
Who teaches it, and what do they do? In a field moving this quickly, faculty who practice differ noticeably from faculty who only read.
What do students produce? Employers in this space assess demonstrated work heavily. A capstone that leaves you with a defensible project is worth considerably more than one that leaves you with a grade.
A related warning: many programs marketed as AI degrees are computer science or data science degrees with two AI electives. That is not necessarily worse - it may be more useful - but it should be a choice rather than a surprise.
Before you shortlist programs, it also helps to be precise about the occupations this degree actually points at.
What These Careers Pay
The roles they feed are counted by BLS as data scientists at a median $120,230, software developers at $135,980 and research scientists at $140,300, with data science projected to change by 33.5 percent through 2034 (BLS OEWS, May 2025; BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34).
Artificial Intelligence at a Glance
Metric
Detail
Source
Median annual wage, data scientists
$120,230
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Wage range, data scientists
$67,240 (10th pct) - $199,130 (90th pct)
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Employment, data scientists
262,440
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Projected change (2024-34)
33.5%, about 23,400 openings per year
BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34
Typical credential
Bachelor’s or master’s; master’s is the more common form of this degree
Program catalogs
Institutions awarding
102
IPEDS Completions, 2024
Geo coverage
Parent page only - supply is too thin for a state tier
IPEDS Completions, 2024
SOC codes covered
15-2051 data scientists; 15-1252 software developers; 15-1221 computer and information research scientists
BLS OEWS, May 2025
The Occupations Behind the Degree
Role
Median
75th percentile
Employment
Projected change
Data scientists
$120,230
$158,880
262,440
33.5%
Software developers
$135,980
$171,980
1,687,890
15.8%
Computer and information research scientists
$140,300
$188,700
37,200
19.7%
All wage and employment figures BLS OEWS, May 2025; growth figures BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34.
There is no BLS occupation called “AI engineer” or “machine learning engineer.” The people doing that work are counted in the three rows above, mostly the first two. That is a limitation of the classification rather than of the field, but it means any wage figure attached to an AI job title elsewhere is not coming from a federal source.
Data science at 33.5 percent is the fastest-projected occupation covered anywhere on this site.
Is It Worth It?
The case for is the growth rate and the wage level. 33.5 percent projected change on the nearest measured occupation, with a $120,230 median and a $199,130 90th percentile, is the strongest combination of the two on this site.
The case against is credential churn. AI degree programs are new, there is no programmatic accreditor, and quality varies widely in a way that a mature field’s does not. Employers in this space assess demonstrated work heavily. A program that leaves you with a portfolio is worth more than one that leaves you with only a transcript, and that is worth asking about before enrolling.
Is college worth it covers the general tradeoff. Individual outcomes may vary.
Frequently Asked Questions
What jobs does an AI degree lead to?
There is no BLS occupation called artificial intelligence engineer. The roles this degree feeds are counted under data scientists at a median of $120,230, software developers at $135,980, and computer and information research scientists at $140,300 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Job titles in this field move faster than the statistical classification does.
How many schools offer an AI degree?
102 institutions awarded CIP 11.0102 at bachelor's or master's level in 2024 (IPEDS Completions, 2024). That is small relative to computer science, which is what this page was separated out of, and it reflects how recently most of these programs were created.
Is an AI degree better than computer science?
For most people, no. Computer science is generally the broader and more portable credential, and AI coursework is available inside it. A dedicated AI degree makes more sense at master's level, as a specialization on top of an existing technical background, than as a first degree.
Can you study artificial intelligence online?
Yes. The subject is entirely computational, and online delivery is well established at master's level in particular. What varies is compute access - ask what hardware or cloud resources a program provides for training work, because that is a real constraint.
Is AI a growing field?
The nearest measured proxy is data scientists, projected to change by 33.5 percent from 2024 to 2034 with about 23,400 openings per year - the highest growth rate of any occupation covered on this site (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34). Computer and information research scientists are projected at 19.7 percent.
Do you need a master's or PhD for AI work?
For research roles, generally yes. For applied machine learning engineering, a bachelor's plus demonstrated work is common, and what employers assess is usually the portfolio rather than the credential. Both statements are widely true and neither is a promise about any individual employer.
Is AI a realistic move from a trade background?
It is one of the longer routes on this site. The mathematics prerequisites - linear algebra, probability, calculus - are real and are where most career changers stall. An IT or computer science associate degree first is usually the more realistic sequence. Individual outcomes may vary.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 - Data Scientists (SOC 15-2051), Software Developers (SOC 15-1252), Computer and Information Research Scientists (SOC 15-1221)
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2024-34
U.S. Department of Education, IPEDS Completions, 2024 - CIP 11.0102
About this guide: Researched and written by the TradeCareerPath Editorial Team. Our editorial team researches and sources every trade school and career guide using federal labor and education data, including BLS OEWS and Employment Projections, DOL apprenticeship records, IPEDS, College Scorecard, and state licensing boards. We follow the editorial standards documented at /editorial-policy/.
