Connecticut·Computer and Mathematical Occupations·SOC 15-1253

Best Software Quality Assurance Analyst programs in Connecticut, ranked by enrollment

Develop and execute software tests to identify software problems and their causes. Test system modifications to prepare for implementation.

19 schools in Connecticut run programs that feed this job, graduating 2,455 people a year. The job pays a median of $97,740 in Connecticut across about 1,160 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledSoftware Test EngineerSoftware Quality EngineerQuality Assurance Analyst (QA Analyst)Software Quality Assurance Engineer (SQA Engineer)Beta TesterGame TesterData ModelerTest Engineer
Graduates / yr
2,455
in Connecticut
Median pay · Connecticut
$97,740
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,160
people employed
Schools
19
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
63%
across those schools
Median net price
$27,183
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Connecticut that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

9 programs in Connecticut that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Connecticut (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Connecticut page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
11,100
44.8%
12$57,986$24,286
2987
40.2%
8$70,374$23,250
3153
6.2%
5$78,333$24,098
4102
4.2%
3$57,986$24,286
545
1.8%
4$78,333$24,098
622
0.9%
1$46,719$20,729
717
0.7%
1$46,719$20,729
815
0.6%
2$48,829$21,696
914
0.6%
1$51,805$46,000

Top 19 schools in Connecticut

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 8 of the 19 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Sacred Heart University
Fairfield, CT Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
517Computer and Information Sciences, General$58,21473%$42,70565%
2University of Bridgeport
Bridgeport, CT Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
474Computer Science41%$25,14983%
3University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT Public · 3 feeder programs
402Computer Science$79,60583%52%
4Yale University
New Haven, CT Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
266Computer and Information Sciences, General$133,29396%$27,0254%
5University of New Haven
West Haven, CT Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
143Computer Science63%$32,61460%
6Central Connecticut State University
New Britain, CT Public · 4 feeder programs
125Computer and Information Sciences, General$69,33448%73%
7Connecticut State Community College
New Britain, CT Public · 3 feeder programs
102Computer Science24%
8Southern Connecticut State University
New Haven, CT Public · 1 feeder programs
69Computer and Information Sciences, General$58,48050%91%
9Quinnipiac University
Hamden, CT Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
65Computer Science76%$36,13772%
10Post University
Waterbury, CT Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
55Computer and Information Sciences, General25%$14,659
11Wesleyan University
Middletown, CT Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
51Computer Science93%$16,46716%
12Fairfield University
Fairfield, CT Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
49Computer and Information Sciences, General84%$36,84533%
13Eastern Connecticut State University
Willimantic, CT Public · 1 feeder programs
37Computer and Information Sciences, General58%83%
14University of Hartford
West Hartford, CT Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
31Computer and Information Sciences, General$34,81254%$28,31196%
15Connecticut College
New London, CT Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
29Computer Science$86,40382%$27,18337%
16Trinity College
Hartford, CT Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
19Computer and Information Sciences, General84%$25,24529%
17Western Connecticut State University
Danbury, CT Public · 1 feeder programs
13Computer and Information Sciences, General$77,96952%87%
18University of Saint Joseph
West Hartford, CT Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
6Computer and Information Sciences, General64%$25,84179%
19Mitchell College
New London, CT Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Computer and Information Sciences, General42%$30,73495%

All 19 schools in Connecticut

Every school in Connecticut with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Connecticut that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Sacred Heart UniversityFairfieldPrivate not-for-profit5173
University of BridgeportBridgeportPrivate not-for-profit4743
University of ConnecticutStorrsPublic4023
Yale UniversityNew HavenPrivate not-for-profit2662
University of New HavenWest HavenPrivate not-for-profit1432
Central Connecticut State UniversityNew BritainPublic1254
Connecticut State Community CollegeNew BritainPublic1023
Southern Connecticut State UniversityNew HavenPublic691
Quinnipiac UniversityHamdenPrivate not-for-profit653
Post UniversityWaterburyPrivate for-profit551
Wesleyan UniversityMiddletownPrivate not-for-profit511
Fairfield UniversityFairfieldPrivate not-for-profit492
Eastern Connecticut State UniversityWillimanticPublic371
University of HartfordWest HartfordPrivate not-for-profit312
Connecticut CollegeNew LondonPrivate not-for-profit291

What software quality assurance analysts and testers earn in Connecticut

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Connecticut
$97,740
Mean annual
$98,740
Jobs in state
1,160
What the range looks like
10th pct$46,080Median$97,74090th pct$153,990
Versus the national median
-6.3%

U.S. median $104,300. Connecticut pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.57×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Connecticut

Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT
$102,090median
220 jobs
Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT
$98,720median
110 jobs
New Haven, CT
$95,700median
110 jobs
Waterbury-Shelton, CT
$98,270median
70 jobs
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
$96,160median
510 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+10.0%
Much faster than average
Openings per year
14,000
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
20,200
201,700 → 221,900
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers page.

How to become a Software Quality Assurance Analyst

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Top skills

Reading ComprehensionActive ListeningCritical ThinkingSpeakingWritingMonitoring

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Connecticut

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 15 majors mapped to Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers15 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 11.0101Computer and Information Sciences, General
  • 11.0103Information Technology
  • 11.0104Informatics
  • 11.0201Computer Programming/Programmer, General
  • 11.0202Computer Programming, Specific Applications
  • 11.0203Computer Programming, Vendor/Product Certification
  • 11.0204Computer Game Programming
  • 11.0205Computer Programming, Specific Platforms
  • 11.0501Computer Systems Analysis/Analyst
  • 11.0701Computer Science
  • 14.0901Computer Engineering, General
  • 14.0903Computer Software Engineering
  • 15.1201Computer Engineering Technology/Technician
  • 15.1202Computer/Computer Systems Technology/Technician
  • 15.1204Computer Software Technology/Technician

Common questions

Answers for people weighing software quality assurance analysts and testers programs in Connecticut.

What degree do you need to become a Software Quality Assurance Analyst?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Computer and Information Sciences, General, which awarded 1,100 degrees in Connecticut in 2024-25, 44.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Software Quality Assurance Analyst?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 9 programs to this occupation. The largest are Computer and Information Sciences, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Computer Programming, plus 2 more. Together they graduate about 2,455 people a year in Connecticut.

How much do software quality assurance analysts and testers earn in Connecticut?+

The median is $97,740 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 6.3% below the U.S. median of $104,300. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for software quality assurance analysts and testers growing?+

BLS projects a +10.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 14,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Connecticut?+

19 institutions in Connecticut reported graduates from at least one of the 9 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do software quality assurance analysts and testers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Software Test Engineer, Software Quality Engineer, Quality Assurance Analyst (QA Analyst), Software Quality Assurance Engineer (SQA Engineer) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 15-1253.

Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers in other statesCaliforniaTexasNew YorkFloridaIllinoisMassachusettsNorth CarolinaGeorgia

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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