Mississippi·Computer and Mathematical Occupations·SOC 15-1251

Best Computer Programmer programs in Mississippi, ranked by enrollment

Create, modify, and test the code and scripts that allow computer applications to run. Work from specifications drawn up by software and web developers or other individuals.

23 schools in Mississippi run programs that feed this job, graduating 409 people a year. The job pays a median of $85,120 in Mississippi across about 1,170 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledProgrammerAnalyst ProgrammerProgrammer AnalystComputer ProgrammerEngineerBeta TesterCloud EngineerJava Architect
Graduates / yr
409
in Mississippi
Median pay · Mississippi
$85,120
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,170
people employed
Schools
23
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
45%
across those schools
Median net price
$19,069
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Mississippi that lead to this job

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

6 programs in Mississippi that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Mississippi (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 Mississippi page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
187
21.3%
8$46,719$20,729
287
21.3%
5$46,719$20,729
386
21.0%
10$70,374$23,250
482
20.0%
5$59,352$24,618
550
12.2%
2
617
4.2%
1$33,504$27,000

Top 23 schools in Mississippi

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 23 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Northwest Mississippi Community College
Senatobia, MS Public · 2 feeder programs
69Computer Programming, Specific Applications45%
2University of Mississippi
University, MS Public · 2 feeder programs
64Data Analytics, General72%97%
3Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College
Perkinston, MS Public · 3 feeder programs
53Computer Programming/Programmer, General48%
4Mississippi State University
Mississippi State, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
45Management Information Systems, General$45,97167%78%
5Hinds Community College
Raymond, MS Public · 2 feeder programs
31Computer Programming, Specific Applications43%
6Itawamba Community College
Fulton, MS Public · 2 feeder programs
28Computer Programming/Programmer, General50%
7Jones County Junior College
Ellisville, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
25Computer Programming/Programmer, General41%
8Copiah - Lincoln Community College
Wesson, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
22Computer Science50%
9Mississippi Christian University
Clinton, MS Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
14Computer Science59%$21,09629%
10Jackson State University
Jackson, MS Public · 2 feeder programs
10Data Analytics, General51%93%
11Coahoma Community College
Clarksdale, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
7Management Information Systems, General41%
12Rust College
Holly Springs, MS Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
7Computer Science12%$8,71149%
13Delta State University
Cleveland, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
6Management Information Systems, General48%100%
14Tougaloo College
Tougaloo, MS Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
6Computer Science33%$19,06960%
15Belhaven University
Jackson, MS Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
4Computer Science49%$22,47650%
16Meridian Community College
Meridian, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
4Computer Programming, Specific Applications34%
17East Mississippi Community College
Scooba, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
3Computer Programming/Programmer, General48%
18Northeast Mississippi Community College
Booneville, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
3Computer Programming/Programmer, General34%
19Blue Mountain Christian University
Blue Mountain, MS Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Computer Programming/Programmer, General55%$18,11789%
20Holmes Community College
Goodman, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
2Computer Programming/Programmer, General39%
21Pearl River Community College
Poplarville, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
2Computer Programming, Specific Applications37%
22Mississippi Delta Community College
Moorhead, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
1Computer Science31%
23University of Southern Mississippi
Hattiesburg, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
1Computer Science49%99%

All 23 schools in Mississippi

Every school in Mississippi 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 Mississippi that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Northwest Mississippi Community CollegeSenatobiaPublic692
University of MississippiUniversityPublic642
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community CollegePerkinstonPublic533
Mississippi State UniversityMississippi StatePublic451
Hinds Community CollegeRaymondPublic312
Itawamba Community CollegeFultonPublic282
Jones County Junior CollegeEllisvillePublic251
Copiah - Lincoln Community CollegeWessonPublic221
Mississippi Christian UniversityClintonPrivate not-for-profit142
Jackson State UniversityJacksonPublic102
Coahoma Community CollegeClarksdalePublic71
Rust CollegeHolly SpringsPrivate not-for-profit71
Delta State UniversityClevelandPublic61
Tougaloo CollegeTougalooPrivate not-for-profit61
Belhaven UniversityJacksonPrivate not-for-profit41

What computer programmers earn in Mississippi

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

Median annual in Mississippi
$85,120
Mean annual
$75,920
Jobs in state
1,170
What the range looks like
10th pct$46,500Median$85,12090th pct$88,100
Versus the national median
-15.2%

U.S. median $100,390. Mississippi pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
1.70×

Concentrated here: Mississippi employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in Mississippi

Gulfport-Biloxi, MS
$72,430median
50 jobs
Jackson, MS
$70,090median
280 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
-6.0%
Decline
Openings per year
5,500
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
-7,200
121,200 → 113,900
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 Computer Programmers page.

How to become a Computer Programmer

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

Active ListeningCritical ThinkingReading ComprehensionWritingActive LearningMathematics

The same job in other states

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

Related careers in Mississippi

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 17 majors mapped to Computer Programmers17 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 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
  • 11.0299Computer Programming, Other
  • 11.0701Computer Science
  • 11.0803Computer Graphics
  • 11.0804Modeling, Virtual Environments and Simulation
  • 11.0902Cloud Computing
  • 15.1204Computer Software Technology/Technician
  • 30.3001Computational Science
  • 30.7101Data Analytics, General
  • 30.7103Data Visualization
  • 30.7199Data Analytics, Other
  • 51.0709Medical Office Computer Specialist/Assistant
  • 52.1201Management Information Systems, General

Common questions

Answers for people weighing computer programmers programs in Mississippi.

What degree do you need to become a Computer Programmer?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Computer Programming/Programmer, General, which awarded 87 degrees in Mississippi in 2024-25, 21.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Computer Programmer?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 6 programs to this occupation. The largest are Computer Programming, Computer Science, Management Information Systems and Services, Data Analytics, plus 1 more. Together they graduate about 409 people a year in Mississippi.

How much do computer programmers earn in Mississippi?+

The median is $85,120 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 15.2% below the U.S. median of $100,390. 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 computer programmers growing?+

BLS projects a -6.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 5,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

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

23 institutions in Mississippi reported graduates from at least one of the 6 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 computer programmers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Programmer, Analyst Programmer, Programmer Analyst, Computer Programmer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 15-1251.

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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