Best universities for computer science degrees 2024

By seeta.bhardwa@…, 26 October, 2023

Top 10 universities in the world for computer science degrees 2024

Scroll down for the full list of best universities in the world for computer science.

Computer science rank 2024 Computer science rank 2023 UniversityCountry/region
1 1 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom
2 3 Stanford UniversityUnited States
3 2 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUnited States
4 5 Carnegie Mellon UniversityUnited States
5 4 ETH ZurichSwitzerland
6 9 Harvard UniversityUnited States
7 6 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom
8 =11 Imperial College LondonUnited Kingdom
9 =11 Princeton UniversityUnited States
10 8 University of California, BerkeleyUnited States

Studying computer science is a smart bet in today’s world because the career opportunities for tech-savvy graduates are expanding every year.

There is also an extensive choice of universities when it comes to deciding where to study the subject.

Some 1,027 schools feature in the Times Higher Education ranking of computer science degrees for this year.

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More than 120 of the featured universities are American, and 61 institutions are based in the UK. Canada and Australia are also well represented with 28 and 30 institutions respectively. 

Computer science degrees vary in their focus and specialisms. Some courses are very theoretical, while others are more focused on programming.

The ranking uses the same methodology as the World University Rankings, but with slightly higher weighting given to the innovation metric and lower weighting for citations. The full methodology can be found here.

Scroll down to find out what you can do with a computer science degree.

Best universities in Australia for computer science degrees
Best universities in the UK for computer science degrees
Best universities in the US for computer science degrees
Best universities in Canada for computer science degrees

Top 5 universities for computer science

5. ETH Zurich

ETH Zurich has a history of developing software and designing computer systems. Eventually, these projects called for a dedicated computer science department, which was created in 1981.

The department covers many areas of computer science, including computational intelligence, networks and distributed systems, algorithms and theory, and information security. Different programming languages are also taught on software engineering courses.

There are close relationships with other departments within the university and with partners in business and industry, such as IBM, Microsoft, Google, SAP and Disney, with which the university collaborates on research projects.

4. Carnegie Mellon University

The Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science was established more than 25 years ago.

The university introduced the US’ first bachelor’s degree in artificial intelligence in 2018, and it added a bachelor’s programme in human-computer interaction in 2020.

The university offers a wide range of undergraduate programmes, majors and minors including robotics and human-computer interaction.

There are also several master’s and doctoral programmes within the field of computer science. 

3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Many of MIT’s alumni feature on lists of influential entrepreneurs making an impact at home and abroad.

Students are encouraged to develop start-ups, and research projects have explored problems such as calculating the financial risks of renewable energy and developing faster parallel computing.

Undergraduates are enrolled on a flexible curriculum that allows them to focus on both abstract theory and practical problems in computer science. Students can major in computer science or in both computer science and molecular biology.

Graduates go on to design video games, work on supercomputers, research robotics and often join big companies such as Google and Microsoft.

What can you do with a computer science degree?

2. Stanford University

The Stanford University computer science department was established in 1965.

The department offers bachelor’s of science, master’s of science and doctor of philosophy degrees.

The department undertakes research in many areas, including artificial intelligence, robotics, foundations of computer science, scientific computing and programming systems. There is also a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary research across chemistry, genetics, linguistics, construction and medicine, among others.

The home of the computer science department is the Gates Computer Science Building, named after Bill Gates, who donated $6 million (£4.9 million) to the project.

1. University of Oxford

Although computer science is a relatively modern discipline, the University of Oxford has one of the oldest departments in the country, formerly known as the Oxford University Computing Laboratory.

Since its beginnings, the department has provided lectures for undergraduates and trained research students at postgraduate level.

In addition to core computer science topics, students can take courses in computational biology, quantum computing, information systems, software verification, software engineering and computational linguistics.

The department offers three undergraduate degrees: single honours computer science, mathematics and computer science, and computer science and philosophy.

Like other students, computer science students – whether undergraduate or postgraduate – belong to one of Oxford’s colleges, where they live, eat, socialise and study.

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Best universities for computer science 2024

Click each institution to view its World University Rankings 2024 profile.

Computer science rank 2024 Computer science rank 2023 UniversityCountry/region
1 1 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom
2 3 Stanford UniversityUnited States
3 2 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUnited States
4 5 Carnegie Mellon UniversityUnited States
5 4 ETH ZurichSwitzerland
6 9 Harvard UniversityUnited States
7 6 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom
8 =11 Imperial College LondonUnited Kingdom
9 =11 Princeton UniversityUnited States
10 8 University of California, BerkeleyUnited States
11 7 National University of SingaporeSingapore
12 13 Tsinghua UniversityChina
13 19 California Institute of TechnologyUnited States
14 16 Cornell UniversityUnited States
15 10 Technical University of MunichGermany
16 20 Peking UniversityChina
17 =22 École Polytechnique Fédérale de LausanneSwitzerland
18 15 University of WashingtonUnited States
19 18 University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUnited States
20 14 Nanyang Technological University, SingaporeSingapore
21 26 University of California, Los AngelesUnited States
22 17 Georgia Institute of TechnologyUnited States
23 32 Yale UniversityUnited States
24 21 Columbia UniversityUnited States
25 =22 University of TorontoCanada
26 24 University of EdinburghUnited Kingdom
27 28 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States
28 =29 UCLUnited Kingdom
29 25 New York UniversityUnited States
30 27 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina
31 =29 The Hong Kong University of Science and TechnologyHong Kong
32 31 University of Texas at AustinUnited States
33 42 The University of TokyoJapan
34 35 University of PennsylvaniaUnited States
35 =38 Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University ParisFrance
36 33 University of California, San DiegoUnited States
37 =38 The University of ChicagoUnited States
38 36 Chinese University of Hong KongHong Kong
39 43 University of WaterlooCanada
40 41 KU LeuvenBelgium
41 37 University of Michigan-Ann ArborUnited States
42 46 Institut Polytechnique de ParisFrance
43 34 University of MontrealCanada
44 40 Zhejiang UniversityChina
45 =48 Delft University of TechnologyNetherlands
46 44 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)South Korea
47 45 University of Maryland, College ParkUnited States
48 =66 Université Paris-SaclayFrance
49 47 University of British ColumbiaCanada
50 50 RWTH Aachen UniversityGermany
51 =48 Seoul National UniversitySouth Korea
52 57 Monash UniversityAustralia
53 55 University of Hong KongHong Kong
54 =91 Purdue University West LafayetteUnited States
55 51 University of MelbourneAustralia
56 59 Technical University of BerlinGermany
57 85 University of MassachusettsUnited States
58 58 Nanjing UniversityChina
=59 52 Duke UniversityUnited States
=59 64 University of Science and Technology of ChinaChina
61 77 KTH Royal Institute of TechnologySweden
62 65 LMU MunichGermany
63 =53 University of Southern CaliforniaUnited States
64 =82 City University of Hong KongHong Kong
65 60 University of California, Santa BarbaraUnited States
66 61 University of AmsterdamNetherlands
67 71 Karlsruhe Institute of TechnologyGermany
68 63 University of Wisconsin-MadisonUnited States
69 =86 Kyoto UniversityJapan
=70 76 University of California, IrvineUnited States
=70 =66 Technical University of DarmstadtGermany
72 =89 Eindhoven University of TechnologyNetherlands
73 81 Fudan UniversityChina
74 74 Brown UniversityUnited States
=75 =53 McGill UniversityCanada
=75 72 Sorbonne UniversityFrance
77 62 University of SydneyAustralia
78 69 University of Technology SydneyAustralia
79 =66 Australian National UniversityAustralia
=80 88 Politecnico di MilanoItaly
=80 =82 Yonsei University (Seoul campus)South Korea
82 =86 University of ManchesterUnited Kingdom
83 70 UNSW SydneyAustralia
84 93 TU WienAustria
85 75 University of AdelaideAustralia
86 73 Aalto UniversityFinland
87 79 Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityHong Kong
88 80 Michigan State UniversityUnited States
89 101–125 University of AlbertaCanada
90 98 Northwestern UniversityUnited States
91 101–125 Boston UniversityUnited States
92 101–125 Northeastern University, USUnited States
=93 126–150 Aarhus UniversityDenmark
=93 101–125 Rice UniversityUnited States
95 99 University of BonnGermany
96 101–125 King’s College LondonUnited Kingdom
=97 =89 Penn State (Main campus)United States
=97 126–150 Tokyo Institute of TechnologyJapan
=99 =91 University of California, DavisUnited States
=99 84 Queen Mary University of LondonUnited Kingdom
101–125 101–125 University of BolognaItaly
101–125 126–150 University of BristolUnited Kingdom
101–125 126–150 Chalmers University of TechnologySweden
101–125 78 University of FreiburgGermany
101–125 176–200 Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina
101–125 101–125 Indian Institute of ScienceIndia
101–125 101–125 Korea UniversitySouth Korea
101–125 126–150 Linköping UniversitySweden
101–125 151–175 Macquarie UniversityAustralia
101–125 101–125 National Taiwan University (NTU)Taiwan
101–125 94 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States
101–125 =95 Qatar UniversityQatar
101–125 101–125 Ruhr University BochumGermany
101–125 151–175 Sapienza University of RomeItaly
101–125 101–125 Simon Fraser UniversityCanada
101–125 151–175 University of StuttgartGermany
101–125 101–125 Technical University of DenmarkDenmark
101–125 126–150 Technion Israel Institute of TechnologyIsrael
101–125 126–150 Tel Aviv UniversityIsrael
101–125 151–175 Texas A&M UniversityUnited States
101–125 101–125 University of TübingenGermany
101–125 =95 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityUnited States
101–125 101–125 Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamNetherlands
101–125 126–150 University of WarwickUnited Kingdom
101–125 101–125 University of ZurichSwitzerland
126–150 151–175 Aalborg UniversityDenmark
126–150 126–150 University of California, RiversideUnited States
126–150 176–200 University of Colorado BoulderUnited States
126–150 101–125 University of CopenhagenDenmark
126–150 151–175 École Normale Supérieure de LyonFrance
126–150 151–175 University of Erlangen-NurembergGermany
126–150 101–125 University of Illinois ChicagoUnited States
126–150 56 King Abdulaziz UniversitySaudi Arabia
126–150 101–125 University of LuxembourgLuxembourg
126–150 201–250 Osaka UniversityJapan
126–150 126–150 University of OsloNorway
126–150 101–125 The University of QueenslandAustralia
126–150 176–200 Shenzhen UniversityChina
126–150 101–125 University of SouthamptonUnited Kingdom
126–150 126–150 Stony Brook UniversityUnited States
126–150 176–200 Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU)South Korea
126–150 101–125 University of SurreyUnited Kingdom
126–150 126–150 Swinburne University of TechnologyAustralia
126–150 151–175 Tohoku UniversityJapan
126–150 151–175 TU DresdenGermany
126–150 201–250 University of TwenteNetherlands
126–150 151–175 University College DublinIreland
126–150 176–200 University of ViennaAustria
126–150 201–250 Wuhan UniversityChina
151–175 126–150 Arizona State University (Tempe)United States
151–175 176–200 University of BirminghamUnited Kingdom
151–175 151–175 University of GlasgowUnited Kingdom
151–175 126–150 Graz University of TechnologyAustria
151–175 151–175 University of GroningenNetherlands
151–175 126–150 Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyChina
151–175 151–175 Kyung Hee UniversitySouth Korea
151–175 126–150 Lancaster UniversityUnited Kingdom
151–175 201–250 University of LeedsUnited Kingdom
151–175 151–175 University of MacauMacao
151–175 151–175 University of MannheimGermany
151–175 176–200 North Carolina State UniversityUnited States
151–175 201–250 University of Notre DameUnited States
151–175 201–250 Ohio State University (Main campus)United States
151–175 126–150 University of OuluFinland
151–175 151–175 Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH)South Korea
151–175 126–150 Queensland University of TechnologyAustralia
151–175 176–200 Radboud University NijmegenNetherlands
151–175 101–125 Rutgers University – New BrunswickUnited States
151–175 176–200 Sejong UniversitySouth Korea
151–175 126–150 Sun Yat-sen UniversityChina
151–175 151–175 University of TrentoItaly
151–175 251–300 University of Virginia (Main campus)United States
151–175 =95 University of WarsawPoland
176–200 176–200 University of AntwerpBelgium
176–200 176–200 University of AucklandNew Zealand
176–200 151–175 University of BaselSwitzerland
176–200 201–250 University at BuffaloUnited States
176–200 201–250 University of California, Santa CruzUnited States
176–200 201–250 Dartmouth CollegeUnited States
176–200 151–175 Deakin UniversityAustralia
176–200 201–250 University of FloridaUnited States
176–200 251–300 Free University of BerlinGermany
176–200 176–200 University of HelsinkiFinland
176–200 201–250 Johannes Kepler University of LinzAustria
176–200 151–175 King Fahd University of Petroleum and MineralsSaudi Arabia
176–200 201–250 Loughborough UniversityUnited Kingdom
176–200 101–125 Macau University of Science and TechnologyMacao
176–200 126–150 University of MalayaMalaysia
176–200 176–200 University of MinnesotaUnited States
176–200 176–200 University of NewcastleAustralia
176–200 201–250 University of NottinghamUnited Kingdom
176–200 201–250 Université du QuébecCanada
176–200 251–300 RMIT UniversityAustralia
176–200 151–175 University of RochesterUnited States
176–200 176–200 Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies – PisaItaly
176–200 151–175 University of South AustraliaAustralia
176–200 201–250 Trinity College DublinIreland
176–200 251–300 University of WürzburgGermany
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