Top universities in the US for computer science degrees 2024
Scroll down for the full list of best universities for computer science in the US
| US computer science rank 2024 | Computer science rank 2024 | University | State |
| 1 | 2 | Stanford University | California |
| 2 | 3 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts |
| 3 | 4 | Carnegie Mellon University | Pennsylvania |
| 4 | 6 | Harvard University | Massachusetts |
| 5 | 9 | Princeton University | New Jersey |
| 6 | 10 | University of California, Berkeley | California |
| 7 | 13 | California Institute of Technology | California |
| 8 | 14 | Cornell University | New York |
| 9 | 18 | University of Washington | Washington |
| 10 | 19 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Illinois |
Not only are the world’s biggest tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Apple headquartered in the US, it’s also home to some of the best universities in the world for computer science degrees.
Many computing courses in the US focus on developing the practical skills and real-world experience that students need to enter the technology industry.
There are 124 US universities in the THE Computer Science Rankings 2024. These are spread across the country from California to New York and include a number of specialist technology colleges.
Below are the best universities in US for computer science degrees.
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5. Princeton University
Princeton is one of the oldest universities in the US having been established in 1746.
Teaching within the university's computer science department covers a wide-range of topics including programming languages, machine learning, robotics, computational biology and human-computer interaction among many others.
At the undergraduate level, students have the freedom to design their own courses based on their interests. All undergraduate students are also expected to carry out at least one research project while supervised by a member of faculty.
The department also offers postgraduate and PhD programmes.
4. Harvard University
Dating back to 1636, Harvard University is the oldest university in the US. It’s a member of the Ivy League and regarded as one of the most prestigious institutions in the world.
Courses at Harvard are designed to be flexible. Computer science students can combine their studies with other fields, including mathematics, physics, economics, psychology, and linguistics. The introduction to computer science class at Harvard is among the university’s most popular courses.
The computer science concentration covers topics ranging from cryptography to sensor motes. Students also have the opportunity to meet influential thought leaders in the field and use the latest tools and technologies, such as grid computing.
A range of clubs and societies fall under the computer science and technology umbrella, including the Harvard Undergraduate Robotics Club and Harvard Video Game Development Club.
Harvard alumni include Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft; and Mark Zuckerberg, who famously invented Facebook while still a student at the university.
3. Carnegie Mellon University
Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university established in 1900 by Scottish industrialist Andrew Carnegie.
Carnegie Mellon’s school of computer science offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in areas including neural computation, computational biology, language technologies and machine learning.
Undergraduates can undertake research projects in areas such as robotics and human-computer interaction. In the spring, students get to present the results of their work at the university-wide “Meeting of the Minds” celebration of undergraduate research.
There are also a wide range of master’s programmes, many of them being some of the first in the world to be offered. These include the master’s in automated science and master’s in computer vision.
The university conducts research in areas including brain science and driverless cars. It was also the first institution, via professor Scott Fahlman in 1982, to create a “smile” in an email.
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2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is an independent, co-educational, private research university based in the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Undergraduates are enrolled on a flexible curriculum, allowing them to focus on both theory and practical problems in computer science. Students can major in computer science or take computer science with another subject for a joint degree.
The undergraduate computer science programme includes compulsory units in programming, software construction and AI, as well as electives in areas such as database systems, language engineering and micro-computing.
There is no master’s degree in computer science at the university, but there is a doctoral programme.
Technological advances accredited to MIT include radar and the invention of magnetic core memory, which enabled the development of digital computers.
MIT computer science graduates have gone on to found some of the most influential tech companies. These include Robert Metcalfe, co-inventor of Ethernet; and Drew Houston, co-founder of Dropbox.
1. Stanford University
Stanford University’s computer science department was established in 1965 and offers a range of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.
Stanford’s undergraduate computer science programme covers areas such as programming, AI, biocomputation, computer engineering and graphics. All students take the same six courses in the first year. In the latter half of their degree they can choose one area to focus on.
Postgraduates are able to “shop around” for a two-week period and try as many different classes as they like, then decide which courses they want to continue with. Computer science students can take courses in areas including software theory, theoretical computer science and computer and network security.
Given the institution’s focus on innovation, it is no surprise that Stanford graduates are famous for their entrepreneurship. Alumni include the founders of Google, Netflix, WhatsApp, Instagram and Palantir Technologies. In fact, companies founded by Stanford affiliates generate more than $2.7 trillion annual revenue, which would equate to the 10th largest economy in the world.
Top universities in the US for computer science degrees 2024
Click each institution to view its World University Ranking 2024 profile
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