Quick answer:Software development degrees usually cover programming languages, data structures, software design and testing at associate or bachelor’s level. Software developers earn a median $135,980 with employment projected to change by 15.8 percent through 2034 (BLS OEWS, May 2025; BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34). What the coursework covers, how it differs from computer science, and what the careers pay are all below.
What the Coursework Usually Covers
Programming fundamentals and languages - control flow, functions, types, and at least two languages carried far enough to be useful
Data structures and algorithms - applied rather than proof-heavy: which structure to reach for and what it costs you
Software design and architecture - object-oriented and functional patterns, modularity, and why yesterday’s shortcut is today’s outage
Databases and data access - relational design, SQL, and the layer that connects an application to its storage
Testing, version control and build tooling - unit and integration testing, Git, continuous integration, code review practice
Web, mobile or systems specialization - most programs include at least one applied track plus a capstone project
The capstone is worth asking about specifically. In this field the artifact you leave the program with tends to matter to employers as much as the transcript does.
How This Differs From a Computer Science Degree
This page exists because the program codes are genuinely different. Software development sits under CIP 11.0201 and 11.0202, the applied computer programming codes, awarded by 410 institutions at associate or bachelor’s level (IPEDS Completions, 2024). Computer science sits under CIP 11.0701 and is a different curriculum.
The practical difference is where the credit hours go. A computer science curriculum spends a meaningful share of them on discrete mathematics, automata, computational theory and formal analysis of algorithms. An applied programming curriculum spends more of them writing, testing and shipping software, and less on proving properties about it. Neither is a lesser degree, and both routes turn up in the same job postings. They suit different people.
A reader searching for a software development degree is usually asking a narrower question than a reader searching for computer science: they want the shortest credible path to writing software for money, often with an associate degree as the first rung. This page shows the institutions that actually award the applied programming codes, rather than a list dominated by theory-first departments.
Before you request information anywhere, ask how much of the program is team project work and what you finish with in your portfolio. With that filter set, compare online software development 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.
People already doing technical work who want to build rather than maintain. Support, field service and operations roles all sit next to software without touching it. This degree is the standard way across.
Tradespeople with a diagnostic habit. Software debugging is fault isolation: form a hypothesis, test it, narrow the range, repeat. Anyone who has traced an intermittent electrical fault already owns the method and only needs the vocabulary.
Anyone who wants an associate degree as a real checkpoint. Unlike several computing routes on this site, this one is commonly awarded at associate level, which makes it possible to enter the field and finish the bachelor’s later.
Credit transfer is decided by the receiving institution and genuinely varies, so request a written transfer evaluation before you enroll.
Two Job Titles, Two Directions
The most useful thing in the federal data for this field is not the wage. It is that the two occupations a programming degree feeds are moving apart.
Software developers are projected to change by 15.8 percent from 2024 to 2034, from employment of 1,693,800 to 1,961,400, with about 115,200 openings a year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34).
Computer programmers are projected to change by -6.0 percent over the same period, from 121,200 to 113,900, with about 5,500 openings a year.
The distinction the federal classification is drawing is roughly between people who design and own software systems and people who implement specifications written by someone else. The second job description is the one that automation and offshoring have both been eating for two decades, and the newer code generation tools have accelerated it further.
The implication for a student is concrete: weight the design, architecture and testing coursework, and treat pure syntax fluency as the floor rather than the goal. Writing code that works is not the scarce skill any more. Deciding what should be built, and knowing why last quarter’s design is now failing, still is.
Is It Worth It?
The case for is unusually strong by the standards of this site. A median of $135,980, employment of 1,687,890 and a 15.8 percent projection is a large, well-paid and growing occupation, and the applied route into it can start at associate level.
The case against is competition rather than demand. Entry-level software hiring is crowded, and the degree alone does not distinguish you in it. What distinguishes candidates is demonstrated work, which is why the capstone and portfolio questions above are not incidental. Outcomes vary.
Is college worth it covers the general cost and time tradeoff in more detail.
What These Careers Pay
Software developers earn a median $135,980 across employment of 1,687,890, with a projected change of 15.8 percent through 2034 (BLS OEWS, May 2025; BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34).
All wage and employment figures BLS OEWS, May 2025; growth figures BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34.
The gap runs from $100,390 to $135,980 at the median and widens at the top: $214,670 at the 90th percentile for developers against $160,460 for programmers. Both figures describe people writing code. The difference is scope of ownership, and the coursework that moves you from one column to the other is design, architecture and systems thinking rather than another language.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do software developers make?
The national median annual wage is $135,980 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). The bottom 10 percent earn $82,460 or less and the top 10 percent earn $214,670 or more, across employment of 1,687,890.
Is software development a growing field?
Software developer employment is projected to grow 15.8 percent from 2024 to 2034, with about 115,200 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34). That is one of the strongest projections in computing.
What is the difference between a software development degree and a computer science degree?
Software development sits under CIP 11.0201 and 11.0202, the applied programming codes, and 410 institutions award it at associate or bachelor's level (IPEDS Completions, 2024). Computer science sits under CIP 11.0701 and is theory-weighted: algorithms, discrete mathematics, computation. Both can lead to developer work. The applied route usually spends more of its credit hours writing software and less of them proving things about it.
Is computer programming the same occupation as software development?
The federal data treats them as two occupations and they are moving in opposite directions. Software developers are projected to change by 15.8 percent through 2034, while computer programmers are projected to change by -6.0 percent with about 5,500 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34). Programmers earn a median $100,390 against $135,980 for developers (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
Can you study software development online?
Yes. The subject is entirely computational and needs no laboratory or clinical component, so the online format loses very little. What varies is how much of a program is team project work, which is harder to run remotely and is also the part employers ask about.
Does it work as a move out of a skilled trade?
It can. The debugging habit that trade work builds, isolating a fault by elimination rather than guessing, is the same habit software work rewards. The associate degree is the common first rung, and 410 institutions award this credential at associate or bachelor's level (IPEDS Completions, 2024). Individual outcomes may vary.
Do employers still care about the degree?
Many software employers screen on demonstrated work as much as on the credential, which is why the portfolio a program leaves you with matters. A degree from an institution holding recognized institutional accreditation is designed to give you both the fundamentals and the artifacts. Outcomes vary.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 - Software Developers (SOC 15-1252), Computer Programmers (SOC 15-1251)
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2024-34
U.S. Department of Education, IPEDS Completions, 2024 - CIP 11.0201, CIP 11.0202
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/.
