Best Software Developer programs in Texas, ranked by enrollment
Research, design, and develop computer and network software or specialized utility programs.
98 schools in Texas run programs that feed this job, graduating 12,895 people a year. The job pays a median of $132,150 in Texas across about 163,880 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Texas that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
16 programs in Texas that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Texas (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 Texas page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 11.0401In Texas → | 3,093 | 24.0% | 29 | $57,313 | $25,833 |
| 2 | CIP 11.0701In Texas → | 2,976 | 23.1% | 46 | $70,374 | $23,250 |
| 3 | CIP 11.0201In Texas → | 1,961 | 15.2% | 23 | $46,719 | $20,729 |
| 4 | CIP 11.0103In Texas → | 1,581 | 12.3% | 26 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 5 | CIP 30.7001In Texas → | 1,139 | 8.8% | 15 | — | — |
| 6 | CIP 14.0901In Texas → | 923 | 7.2% | 18 | $78,333 | $24,098 |
| 7 | CIP 14.0903In Texas → | 371 | 2.9% | 8 | $78,333 | $24,098 |
| 8 | CIP 11.0102In Texas → | 236 | 1.8% | 8 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 9 | CIP 30.0801In Texas → | 187 | 1.5% | 4 | $89,651 | $23,175 |
| 10 | CIP 11.0902In Texas → | 154 | 1.2% | 8 | $43,901 | $22,822 |
| 11 | CIP 11.0104In Texas → | 107 | 0.8% | 3 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 12 | CIP 11.0202In Texas → | 90 | 0.7% | 6 | $46,719 | $20,729 |
| 13 | CIP 11.0204In Texas → | 34 | 0.3% | 2 | $46,719 | $20,729 |
| 14 | CIP 15.1204In Texas → | 28 | 0.2% | 1 | $48,829 | $21,696 |
| 15 | CIP 11.0804In Texas → | 10 | 0.1% | 1 | $33,504 | $27,000 |
| 16 | CIP 30.4801In Texas → | 5 | 0.0% | 1 | — | — |
Top 25 schools in Texas
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 26 of the 98 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, TX Public · 5 feeder programs | 1,630 | Information Science/Studies | — | 76% | — | 65% |
| 2 | University of North Texas Denton, TX Public · 6 feeder programs | 1,454 | Information Technology | $70,235 | 61% | — | 72% |
| 3 | Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX Public · 5 feeder programs | 1,200 | Computer Science | $86,084 | 84% | — | 57% |
| 4 | The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX Public · 6 feeder programs | 1,002 | Information Science/Studies | $57,756 | 54% | — | 80% |
| 5 | Austin Community College District Austin, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 709 | Computer Programming/Programmer, General | — | 20% | — | — |
| 6 | Lamar University Beaumont, TX Public · 3 feeder programs | 639 | Information Science/Studies | — | 37% | — | 86% |
| 7 | The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX Public · 4 feeder programs | 619 | Data Science, General | — | 89% | — | 27% |
| 8 | Dallas College Dallas, TX Public · 3 feeder programs | 370 | Computer Programming/Programmer, General | $43,727 | 32% | — | — |
| 9 | Texas State University San Marcos, TX Public · 2 feeder programs | 358 | Computer Science | $70,906 | 55% | — | 89% |
| 10 | Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX Public · 4 feeder programs | 303 | Information Technology | $82,521 | 69% | — | 73% |
| 11 | University of Houston - Clear Lake Houston, TX Public · 5 feeder programs | 301 | Information Science/Studies | — | 52% | — | 91% |
| 12 | Houston City College Houston, TX Public · 3 feeder programs | 297 | Computer Science | — | 17% | — | — |
| 13 | Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 267 | Computer Science | $93,679 | 84% | $33,246 | 63% |
| 14 | The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX Public · 4 feeder programs | 255 | Computer Science | — | 51% | — | 94% |
| 15 | Lone Star College System The Woodlands, TX Public · 4 feeder programs | 230 | Information Technology | $39,224 | 21% | — | — |
| 16 | Amarillo College Amarillo, TX Public · 2 feeder programs | 211 | Computer Programming/Programmer, General | $37,250 | 32% | — | — |
| 17 | Tarrant County College District Fort Worth, TX Public · 5 feeder programs | 211 | Computer Programming/Programmer, General | — | 34% | — | — |
| 18 | The University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio, TX Public · 5 feeder programs | 175 | Information Technology | $72,804 | 53% | — | 87% |
| 19 | San Jacinto Community College Pasadena, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 171 | Computer Programming/Programmer, General | — | 30% | — | — |
| 20 | North American University Stafford, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 117 | Computer Science | — | 32% | $21,393 | — |
| 21 | Tarleton State University Stephenville, TX Public · 5 feeder programs | 115 | Information Science/Studies | — | 48% | — | 90% |
| 22 | Texas A&M University - Victoria Victoria, TX Public · 4 feeder programs | 113 | Information Science/Studies | — | 26% | — | 96% |
| 23 | El Paso Community College El Paso, TX Public · 3 feeder programs | 110 | Computer Science | — | 24% | — | — |
| 24 | University of Houston Houston, TX Public · 3 feeder programs | 107 | Computer Engineering, General | $80,438 | 65% | — | 74% |
| 25 | Strayer University - Texas Farmers Branch, TX Private for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 106 | Information Technology | $67,315 | 25% | $17,518 | — |
All 98 schools in Texas
Every school in Texas 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The University of Texas at Dallas | Richardson | Public | 1,630 | 5 |
| University of North Texas | Denton | Public | 1,454 | 6 |
| Texas A&M University - College Station | College Station | Public | 1,200 | 5 |
| The University of Texas at Arlington | Arlington | Public | 1,002 | 6 |
| Austin Community College District | Austin | Public | 709 | 1 |
| Lamar University | Beaumont | Public | 639 | 3 |
| The University of Texas at Austin | Austin | Public | 619 | 4 |
| Dallas College | Dallas | Public | 370 | 3 |
| Texas State University | San Marcos | Public | 358 | 2 |
| Texas Tech University | Lubbock | Public | 303 | 4 |
| University of Houston - Clear Lake | Houston | Public | 301 | 5 |
| Houston City College | Houston | Public | 297 | 3 |
| Southern Methodist University | Dallas | Private not-for-profit | 267 | 4 |
| The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley | Edinburg | Public | 255 | 4 |
| Lone Star College System | The Woodlands | Public | 230 | 4 |
What software developers earn in Texas
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $135,980. Texas pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Texas
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 Texas
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 Texas.
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 Information Science/Studies, which awarded 3,093 degrees in Texas in 2024-25, 24.0% 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 Information Science/Studies, Computer Science, Computer Programming, Computer and Information Sciences, plus 7 more. Together they graduate about 12,895 people a year in Texas.
How much do software developers earn in Texas?+
The median is $132,150 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 2.8% 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 Texas?+
98 institutions in Texas 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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