Best Software Developer programs in Ohio, ranked by enrollment
Research, design, and develop computer and network software or specialized utility programs.
67 schools in Ohio run programs that feed this job, graduating 5,740 people a year. The job pays a median of $114,090 in Ohio across about 44,790 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Ohio that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
16 programs in Ohio that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Ohio (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 Ohio page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 11.0701In Ohio → | 1,803 | 31.4% | 37 | $70,374 | $23,250 |
| 2 | CIP 11.0103In Ohio → | 1,123 | 19.6% | 14 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 3 | CIP 14.0901In Ohio → | 904 | 15.7% | 16 | $78,333 | $24,098 |
| 4 | CIP 11.0201In Ohio → | 530 | 9.2% | 17 | $46,719 | $20,729 |
| 5 | CIP 11.0401In Ohio → | 518 | 9.0% | 11 | $57,313 | $25,833 |
| 6 | CIP 11.0202In Ohio → | 269 | 4.7% | 7 | $46,719 | $20,729 |
| 7 | CIP 30.7001In Ohio → | 166 | 2.9% | 12 | — | — |
| 8 | CIP 14.0903In Ohio → | 149 | 2.6% | 6 | $78,333 | $24,098 |
| 9 | CIP 15.1204In Ohio → | 75 | 1.3% | 4 | $48,829 | $21,696 |
| 10 | CIP 11.0102In Ohio → | 55 | 1.0% | 5 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 11 | CIP 11.0804In Ohio → | 43 | 0.7% | 2 | $33,504 | $27,000 |
| 12 | CIP 11.0204In Ohio → | 36 | 0.6% | 1 | $46,719 | $20,729 |
| 13 | CIP 30.0801In Ohio → | 33 | 0.6% | 1 | $89,651 | $23,175 |
| 14 | CIP 11.0203In Ohio → | 29 | 0.5% | 1 | $46,719 | $20,729 |
| 15 | CIP 30.3901In Ohio → | 4 | 0.1% | 1 | — | — |
| 16 | CIP 11.0104In Ohio → | 3 | 0.1% | 2 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
Top 25 schools in Ohio
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 25 of the 67 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Cincinnati - Main Campus Cincinnati, OH Public · 7 feeder programs | 1,056 | Information Technology | $69,548 | 75% | — | 85% |
| 2 | Ohio State University - Main Campus Columbus, OH Public · 2 feeder programs | 592 | Computer Engineering, General | $83,342 | 88% | — | 61% |
| 3 | Cleveland State University Cleveland, OH Public · 5 feeder programs | 523 | Information Science/Studies | $57,661 | 51% | — | 91% |
| 4 | University of Dayton Dayton, OH Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 380 | Computer Science | $74,052 | 80% | $28,560 | 65% |
| 5 | Kent State University at Kent Kent, OH Public · 3 feeder programs | 368 | Computer Science | $60,051 | 64% | — | 86% |
| 6 | Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 298 | Computer Science | $95,688 | 87% | $27,976 | 37% |
| 7 | Miami University - Oxford Oxford, OH Public · 4 feeder programs | 279 | Computer Science | — | 80% | — | 75% |
| 8 | Youngstown State University Youngstown, OH Public · 4 feeder programs | 271 | Computer Programming/Programmer, General | — | 50% | — | 84% |
| 9 | Franklin University Columbus, OH Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 215 | Information Technology | $63,310 | 11% | $22,280 | — |
| 10 | University of Toledo Toledo, OH Public · 6 feeder programs | 174 | Information Science/Studies | $50,920 | 57% | — | 92% |
| 11 | Stark State College North Canton, OH Public · 3 feeder programs | 147 | Computer Programming, Specific Applications | — | 23% | — | — |
| 12 | Sinclair Community College Dayton, OH Public · 3 feeder programs | 137 | Computer Software Technology/Technician | $60,462 | 41% | — | — |
| 13 | Bowling Green State University - Main Campus Bowling Green, OH Public · 4 feeder programs | 121 | Computer Software Engineering | $67,949 | 64% | — | 81% |
| 14 | Cuyahoga Community College District Cleveland, OH Public · 2 feeder programs | 115 | Computer Programming/Programmer, General | $33,937 | 31% | — | — |
| 15 | Columbus State Community College Columbus, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 107 | Computer Programming, Specific Applications | — | 28% | — | — |
| 16 | University of Akron Main Campus Akron, OH Public · 6 feeder programs | 104 | Mathematics and Computer Science | $68,137 | 52% | — | 60% |
| 17 | Ohio University - Main Campus Athens, OH Public · 2 feeder programs | 73 | Computer Science | $73,932 | 65% | — | 85% |
| 18 | Denison University Granville, OH Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 61 | Computer Science | — | 79% | $23,864 | 17% |
| 19 | Terra State Community College Fremont, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 56 | Computer Programming/Programmer, General | — | 39% | — | — |
| 20 | The College of Wooster Wooster, OH Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 54 | Computer Science | — | 74% | $22,491 | 60% |
| 21 | Wright State University - Main Campus Dayton, OH Public · 2 feeder programs | 53 | Computer Engineering, General | $70,345 | 42% | — | 96% |
| 22 | Cincinnati State Technical and Community College Cincinnati, OH Public · 3 feeder programs | 48 | Computer Programming, Specific Applications | $55,996 | 16% | — | — |
| 23 | Cedarville University Cedarville, OH Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 44 | Computer Science | $76,615 | 73% | $22,701 | 65% |
| 24 | Air Force Institute of Technology - Graduate School of Engineering & Management Wright-Patterson AFB, OH Public · 3 feeder programs | 33 | Computer Science | — | — | — | — |
| 25 | Xavier University Cincinnati, OH Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 33 | Computer Science | $73,546 | 69% | $31,119 | 86% |
All 67 schools in Ohio
Every school in Ohio 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 Cincinnati - Main Campus | Cincinnati | Public | 1,056 | 7 |
| Ohio State University - Main Campus | Columbus | Public | 592 | 2 |
| Cleveland State University | Cleveland | Public | 523 | 5 |
| University of Dayton | Dayton | Private not-for-profit | 380 | 3 |
| Kent State University at Kent | Kent | Public | 368 | 3 |
| Case Western Reserve University | Cleveland | Private not-for-profit | 298 | 4 |
| Miami University - Oxford | Oxford | Public | 279 | 4 |
| Youngstown State University | Youngstown | Public | 271 | 4 |
| Franklin University | Columbus | Private not-for-profit | 215 | 3 |
| University of Toledo | Toledo | Public | 174 | 6 |
| Stark State College | North Canton | Public | 147 | 3 |
| Sinclair Community College | Dayton | Public | 137 | 3 |
| Bowling Green State University - Main Campus | Bowling Green | Public | 121 | 4 |
| Cuyahoga Community College District | Cleveland | Public | 115 | 2 |
| Columbus State Community College | Columbus | Public | 107 | 1 |
What software developers earn in Ohio
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $135,980. Ohio pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Ohio
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 Developers page.
How to become a Software Developer
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 Ohio
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 20 majors mapped to Software Developers20 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 11.0102Artificial Intelligence
- 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
- 11.0401Information Science/Studies
- 11.0701Computer Science
- 11.0804Modeling, Virtual Environments and Simulation
- 11.0902Cloud Computing
- 14.0901Computer Engineering, General
- 14.0903Computer Software Engineering
- 15.1204Computer Software Technology/Technician
- 30.0801Mathematics and Computer Science
- 30.1601Accounting and Computer Science
- 30.3901Economics and Computer Science
- 30.4801Linguistics and Computer Science
- 30.7001Data Science, General
Common questions
Answers for people weighing software developers programs in Ohio.
What degree do you need to become a Software Developer?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Computer Science, which awarded 1,803 degrees in Ohio in 2024-25, 31.4% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Software Developer?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 16 programs to this occupation. The largest are Computer Science, Computer and Information Sciences, Computer Engineering, Computer Programming, plus 6 more. Together they graduate about 5,740 people a year in Ohio.
How much do software developers earn in Ohio?+
The median is $114,090 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 16.1% below the U.S. median of $135,980. 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 developers growing?+
BLS projects a +15.8% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 115,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Ohio?+
67 institutions in Ohio reported graduates from at least one of the 16 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 developers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Developer, Software Engineer, Software Architect, Software Developer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 15-1252.
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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