Best Software Quality Assurance Analyst programs in North Carolina, ranked by enrollment
Develop and execute software tests to identify software problems and their causes. Test system modifications to prepare for implementation.
94 schools in North Carolina run programs that feed this job, graduating 10,776 people a year. The job pays a median of $100,390 in North Carolina across about 8,890 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in North Carolina that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
9 programs in North Carolina that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in North Carolina (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 North Carolina page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 11.0103In North Carolina → | 6,176 | 57.3% | 69 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 2 | CIP 11.0701In North Carolina → | 3,741 | 34.7% | 24 | $70,374 | $23,250 |
| 3 | CIP 14.0901In North Carolina → | 605 | 5.6% | 5 | $78,333 | $24,098 |
| 4 | CIP 11.0101In North Carolina → | 137 | 1.3% | 14 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 5 | CIP 15.1201In North Carolina → | 60 | 0.6% | 11 | $48,829 | $21,696 |
| 6 | CIP 14.0903In North Carolina → | 25 | 0.2% | 1 | $78,333 | $24,098 |
| 7 | CIP 11.0104In North Carolina → | 17 | 0.2% | 2 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 8 | CIP 15.1204In North Carolina → | 8 | 0.1% | 1 | $48,829 | $21,696 |
| 9 | CIP 11.0204In North Carolina → | 7 | 0.1% | 1 | $46,719 | $20,729 |
Top 25 schools in North Carolina
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 29 of the 94 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC Public · 4 feeder programs | 1,536 | Computer Science | $67,704 | 69% | — | 80% |
| 2 | Wake Technical Community College Raleigh, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 1,430 | Information Technology | $55,264 | 33% | — | — |
| 3 | North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC Public · 2 feeder programs | 1,216 | Computer Science | $85,809 | 85% | — | 42% |
| 4 | Duke University Durham, NC Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 486 | Computer Science | $133,356 | 97% | $16,260 | 6% |
| 5 | Fayetteville Technical Community College Fayetteville, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 468 | Information Technology | $32,154 | 24% | — | — |
| 6 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 420 | Computer Science | $90,293 | 91% | — | 15% |
| 7 | Central Piedmont Community College Charlotte, NC Public · 2 feeder programs | 383 | Information Technology | $40,854 | 31% | — | — |
| 8 | Rowan - Cabarrus Community College Salisbury, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 337 | Information Technology | $34,853 | 35% | — | — |
| 9 | Forsyth Technical Community College Winston-Salem, NC Public · 2 feeder programs | 333 | Information Technology | $38,837 | 34% | — | — |
| 10 | Davidson - Davie Community College Thomasville, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 254 | Information Technology | $36,168 | 46% | — | — |
| 11 | Wayne Community College Goldsboro, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 235 | Information Technology | — | 49% | — | — |
| 12 | North Carolina A & T State University Greensboro, NC Public · 4 feeder programs | 232 | Computer Science | $81,174 | 57% | — | 50% |
| 13 | Asheville - Buncombe Technical Community College Asheville, NC Public · 2 feeder programs | 223 | Information Technology | $41,027 | 40% | — | — |
| 14 | East Carolina University Greenville, NC Public · 4 feeder programs | 175 | Computer Science | $65,958 | 63% | — | 89% |
| 15 | University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, NC Public · 3 feeder programs | 164 | Computer Science | $67,781 | 56% | — | 89% |
| 16 | University of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington, NC Public · 3 feeder programs | 160 | Computer Science | $66,977 | 71% | — | 64% |
| 17 | Guilford Technical Community College Jamestown, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 149 | Information Technology | $36,227 | 31% | — | — |
| 18 | Appalachian State University Boone, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 143 | Computer Science | $68,675 | 75% | — | 90% |
| 19 | Johnston Community College Smithfield, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 137 | Information Technology | — | 37% | — | — |
| 20 | Pitt Community College Winterville, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 105 | Information Technology | — | 35% | — | — |
| 21 | Coastal Carolina Community College Jacksonville, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 94 | Information Technology | — | 49% | — | — |
| 22 | Cleveland Community College Shelby, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 86 | Information Technology | — | 32% | — | — |
| 23 | Cape Fear Community College Wilmington, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 81 | Information Technology | — | 34% | — | — |
| 24 | Wilkes Community College Wilkesboro, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 72 | Information Technology | — | 55% | — | — |
| 25 | Craven Community College New Bern, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 68 | Information Technology | — | 48% | — | — |
All 94 schools in North Carolina
Every school in North Carolina 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.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of North Carolina at Charlotte | Charlotte | Public | 1,536 | 4 |
| Wake Technical Community College | Raleigh | Public | 1,430 | 1 |
| North Carolina State University at Raleigh | Raleigh | Public | 1,216 | 2 |
| Duke University | Durham | Private not-for-profit | 486 | 3 |
| Fayetteville Technical Community College | Fayetteville | Public | 468 | 1 |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill | Public | 420 | 1 |
| Central Piedmont Community College | Charlotte | Public | 383 | 2 |
| Rowan - Cabarrus Community College | Salisbury | Public | 337 | 1 |
| Forsyth Technical Community College | Winston-Salem | Public | 333 | 2 |
| Davidson - Davie Community College | Thomasville | Public | 254 | 1 |
| Wayne Community College | Goldsboro | Public | 235 | 1 |
| North Carolina A & T State University | Greensboro | Public | 232 | 4 |
| Asheville - Buncombe Technical Community College | Asheville | Public | 223 | 2 |
| East Carolina University | Greenville | Public | 175 | 4 |
| University of North Carolina at Greensboro | Greensboro | Public | 164 | 3 |
What software quality assurance analysts and testers earn in North Carolina
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $104,300. North Carolina pays below the national figure.
Concentrated here: North Carolina employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in North Carolina
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
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
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in North Carolina
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 North Carolina.
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 Information Technology, which awarded 6,176 degrees in North Carolina in 2024-25, 57.3% 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 Engineering Technologies/Technicians, plus 1 more. Together they graduate about 10,776 people a year in North Carolina.
How much do software quality assurance analysts and testers earn in North Carolina?+
The median is $100,390 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 3.7% 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 North Carolina?+
94 institutions in North Carolina 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.
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 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected 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 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, 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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