Nebraska·Computer and Mathematical Occupations·SOC 15-1253

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

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

18 schools in Nebraska run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,716 people a year. The job pays a median of $98,010 in Nebraska across about 1,240 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
1,716
in Nebraska
Median pay · Nebraska
$98,010
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,240
people employed
Schools
18
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
49%
across those schools
Median net price
$25,103
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Nebraska that lead to this job

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

9 programs in Nebraska that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Nebraska (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 Nebraska page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 11.0101In Nebraska
981
57.2%
14$57,986$24,286
2
CIP 11.0701In Nebraska
354
20.6%
7$70,374$23,250
3
CIP 11.0201In Nebraska
211
12.3%
3$46,719$20,729
4
CIP 11.0103In Nebraska
95
5.5%
5$57,986$24,286
5
CIP 14.0903In Nebraska
31
1.8%
1$78,333$24,098
6
CIP 14.0901In Nebraska
24
1.4%
1$78,333$24,098
7
CIP 11.0104In Nebraska
16
0.9%
2$57,986$24,286
8
CIP 11.0204In Nebraska
2
0.1%
1$46,719$20,729
9
CIP 11.0501In Nebraska
2
0.1%
1$51,805$46,000

Top 18 schools in Nebraska

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 8 of the 18 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Metropolitan Community College Area
Omaha, NE Public · 4 feeder programs
489Computer and Information Sciences, General$48,71929%
2Bellevue University
Bellevue, NE Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs
326Computer and Information Sciences, General$60,18833%$29,230
3University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Lincoln, NE Public · 3 feeder programs
226Computer Science67%87%
4Southeast Community College Area
Lincoln, NE Public · 2 feeder programs
209Computer and Information Sciences, General$55,73838%
5University of Nebraska at Omaha
Omaha, NE Public · 5 feeder programs
162Computer Science$73,97147%87%
6Central Community College
Grand Island, NE Public · 1 feeder programs
137Computer and Information Sciences, General48%
7Northeast Community College
Norfolk, NE Public · 3 feeder programs
58Computer and Information Sciences, General$37,50956%
8Western Nebraska Community College
Scottsbluff, NE Public · 1 feeder programs
29Computer and Information Sciences, General37%
9University of Nebraska at Kearney
Kearney, NE Public · 1 feeder programs
18Computer and Information Sciences, General$60,77158%89%
10Creighton University
Omaha, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
15Computer Science$51,62583%$27,35380%
11Peru State College
Peru, NE Public · 1 feeder programs
12Computer and Information Sciences, General38%
12Wayne State College
Wayne, NE Public · 1 feeder programs
11Computer and Information Sciences, General52%
13Doane University
Crete, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
7Computer and Information Sciences, General$63,45157%$25,10398%
14Concordia University - Nebraska
Seward, NE Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
5Computer Science65%$22,39086%
15Hastings College
Hastings, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
3Computer Science49%$20,42472%
16Little Priest Tribal College
Winnebago, NE Public · 1 feeder programs
3Computer and Information Sciences, General13%
17Mid - Plains Community College
North Platte, NE Public · 1 feeder programs
3Computer and Information Sciences, General54%
18Union Adventist University
Lincoln, NE Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
3Computer and Information Sciences, General52%$20,543100%

All 18 schools in Nebraska

Every school in Nebraska 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 Nebraska that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Metropolitan Community College AreaOmahaPublic4894
Bellevue UniversityBellevuePrivate not-for-profit3264
University of Nebraska - LincolnLincolnPublic2263
Southeast Community College AreaLincolnPublic2092
University of Nebraska at OmahaOmahaPublic1625
Central Community CollegeGrand IslandPublic1371
Northeast Community CollegeNorfolkPublic583
Western Nebraska Community CollegeScottsbluffPublic291
University of Nebraska at KearneyKearneyPublic181
Creighton UniversityOmahaPrivate not-for-profit151
Peru State CollegePeruPublic121
Wayne State CollegeWaynePublic111
Doane UniversityCretePrivate not-for-profit71
Concordia University - NebraskaSewardPrivate not-for-profit52
Hastings CollegeHastingsPrivate not-for-profit31

What software quality assurance analysts and testers earn in Nebraska

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

Median annual in Nebraska
$98,010
Mean annual
$98,160
Jobs in state
1,240
What the range looks like
10th pct$64,750Median$98,01090th pct$131,490
Versus the national median
-6.0%

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

Job concentration
1.01×

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

Metro areas in Nebraska

Omaha, NE-IA
$99,580median
800 jobs
Lincoln, NE
$92,710median
240 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 Nebraska

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 Nebraska.

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 981 degrees in Nebraska in 2024-25, 57.2% 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 Programming, Computer Engineering, plus 1 more. Together they graduate about 1,716 people a year in Nebraska.

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

The median is $98,010 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 6.0% 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 Nebraska?+

18 institutions in Nebraska 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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