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What Can You Do With a Software Engineering Degree? (2026)
Key takeaway: A software engineering degree points at a cluster of occupations rather than one job title: software developers at a median annual wage of $135,980, computer and information systems managers at $175,140, computer network architects at $134,050, computer systems analysts at $105,850, and software quality assurance analysts and testers at $104,300 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). Software developers alone account for 115,200 annual openings (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Nothing here is licensed, and hiring screens on demonstrated code as much as on the transcript.
Software engineering trains you to build software as an engineered product: requirements, architecture, verification, release, and maintenance. That skill set is portable across industries, because nearly every sector now runs on software it has to keep working. The degree does not restrict you to a job called “software engineer,” and the occupations the Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks use older titles than the ones on job boards.
Jobs you can get with a software engineering degree
| Occupation | Median annual wage |
|---|---|
| Computer and information systems managers | $175,140 |
| Software developers | $135,980 |
| Computer network architects | $134,050 |
| Computer occupations, all other | $116,580 |
| Computer systems analysts | $105,850 |
| Software quality assurance analysts and testers | $104,300 |
| Computer programmers | $100,390 |
| Web developers | $92,650 |
View the data behind this chart
| Occupation | Avg. annual openings |
|---|---|
| Software Developers | 115,200/yr |
| Computer and Information Systems Managers | 55,600/yr |
| Computer Systems Analysts | 34,200/yr |
| Computer Occupations, All Other | 31,300/yr |
| Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers | 14,000/yr |
| Computer Network Architects | 11,200/yr |
| Computer Programmers | 5,500/yr |
| Web Developers | 5,400/yr |
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS national medians. Median means half of workers in the occupation earned more and half earned less. Wages vary substantially by metro area, industry, and years of experience.
Software developers. The core destination. Developers design, build, test, and maintain applications and systems, usually on a team that owns a service or a product area. The national median annual wage was $135,980, with the 10th percentile at $82,460 and the 90th at $214,670 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). Employment was 1,693,800 in 2024, projected to grow 15.8 percent through 2034 with 115,200 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Titles include backend developer, full-stack developer, platform engineer, and, confusingly, “software engineer” itself.
Software quality assurance analysts and testers. Quality engineers design test strategy, build automated test suites, and hold releases that should not ship. The median annual wage was $104,300, with the 10th percentile at $61,440 and the 90th at $167,010 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). Employment was 201,700 in 2024, projected to grow 10.0 percent through 2034 with 14,000 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). This is one of the more open entry lanes for new graduates, and test automation is programming work. See how to become a QA engineer.
Computer systems analysts. Analysts sit between the business and the codebase, studying how an organization works and specifying systems that fit it. The median annual wage was $105,850, with the 10th percentile at $67,340 and the 90th at $167,710 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). Employment was 521,100 in 2024, projected to grow 8.7 percent through 2034 with 34,200 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Requirements engineering coursework maps onto this role more directly than any other.
Computer network architects. Architects design the networks and, increasingly, the distributed infrastructure that applications run on. The median annual wage was $134,050, with the 90th percentile at $202,680 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), and employment is projected to grow 11.9 percent through 2034 with 11,200 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). This role usually follows several years of engineering or networking experience rather than a first degree. If infrastructure is the appeal, compare cloud computing.
Computer and information systems managers. The leadership branch: owning teams, budgets, roadmaps, and technical strategy. The median annual wage was $175,140, with the 10th percentile at $107,550 and the 90th at $297,510 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). Employment was 667,100 in 2024, projected to grow 15.2 percent through 2034 with 55,600 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Nobody enters here from a bachelor’s; it is where a decade of delivery can lead.
Computer programmers. Read this one carefully. The median annual wage was $100,390 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), but employment was 121,200 in 2024 and is projected to decline 6.0 percent through 2034, with 5,500 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). The occupation describes implementation against someone else’s specification, which is the narrowest version of this work and the part most exposed to automation and offshoring. A software engineering degree is largely an argument for not being classified here.
Web developers and computer occupations, all other. Web developers had a median annual wage of $92,650 with 7.5 percent projected growth and 5,400 openings per year, and the residual “computer occupations, all other” category had a median of $116,580 with 8.2 percent growth and 31,300 openings per year (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS; BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). That residual category is where many newer titles land before the classification catches up. For platform-specific paths, see web development and mobile app development.
What the degree level changes
Nothing in software is licensed, so the practical question is not which credential unlocks which title. It is what you can demonstrate.
The online bachelor’s in software engineering is the standard entry credential. It supplies fundamentals, the engineering core, and a capstone project you can talk about in an interview. It clears resume filters at larger employers and is what most job postings name.
The online master’s in software engineering serves two people: the career changer who needs a structured route in, and the working engineer who wants architecture, security, or distributed systems depth. It is not a promotion mechanism on its own.
Neither replaces the portfolio. Technical interviews and take-home exercises evaluate work directly, which is why the capstone, internships, and version-controlled projects matter alongside the transcript.
Industries that hire software engineering graduates
The occupation labels above cut across sectors, and the sector often matters more to your daily work than the title does.
Software publishers and technology companies are the obvious employers and the ones most associated with the highest wage percentiles. Expect faster release cycles, more greenfield work, and hiring processes that lean hard on technical interviews.
Finance, insurance, and healthcare employ large engineering organizations that most students never think about. The systems are older, the regulatory constraints are real, and verification coursework carries unusual weight because a defect has a compliance consequence rather than only a customer one.
Government and defense contracting hires steadily and is one of the settings where a degree is closest to a hard requirement, since contracts often specify educational credentials for billable roles. Security clearance eligibility can matter more than any elective you choose.
Manufacturing, logistics, energy, and retail all now run substantial software organizations. These employers compete less on wage and more on stability and problem novelty, and they are frequently where graduates find a first job outside a technology hub. Remote work has widened that field further, though it has also widened the applicant pool for every posting.
How to read a software job posting
Job titles in this field are unreliable, so read the duties instead. Four questions sort most postings quickly:
- Does the role decide what gets built, or only implement someone else’s specification? That distinction separates the growing occupation from the shrinking one.
- Does it name a specific stack, or a problem domain? Stack-specific postings hire faster and age faster.
- Does it require an on-call rotation? That tells you whether you will own software in production, which is where most engineering judgment is actually built.
- Does the posting list a degree as required or preferred? “Preferred” usually means a portfolio can substitute; “required” usually means an applicant tracking system will filter on it.
Common questions
What jobs can you get with a software engineering degree?
The associated occupations are software developer, software quality assurance analyst and tester, computer systems analyst, computer network architect, computer programmer, web developer, and later computer and information systems manager. Common titles include backend developer, full-stack developer, platform engineer, test automation engineer, and solutions architect.
How much do software engineering majors make?
Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 OEWS national medians are $135,980 for software developers, $104,300 for software quality assurance analysts and testers, $105,850 for computer systems analysts, and $175,140 for computer and information systems managers. Wages vary substantially by metro area, industry, and experience.
Which of these careers has the most openings?
Software developers, by a wide margin: 115,200 openings per year, compared with 55,600 for computer and information systems managers and 34,200 for computer systems analysts (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Openings count both growth and replacement needs.
Is any software engineering job licensed?
No. There is no license to write, test, or ship software in the United States. Some states have professional engineering licensure paths that have historically included software, but employment as a software engineer does not require it. Vendor certifications are optional signals, not credentials required to work.
Is a software engineering degree worth it?
It is worth it if you want a structured route into a field with 115,200 developer openings a year and you use the program to build code you can show. It is worth less if you already ship production software and are hoping the credential alone will move you up. The is a software engineering degree worth it page walks through the trade-offs.
Keep exploring
- Start at the software engineering program hub, then compare levels: online bachelor’s and online master’s.
- Walk through how to become a QA engineer, or weigh the trade-offs on is it worth it.
- Compare formats: accelerated programs and how the online format works.
- Find programs near you at the state index.
- Compare related fields: computer science, software development, web development, mobile app development, and cloud computing.
Data verified: September 5, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.