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Key takeaway: Web development is the applied craft of building and operating software that runs in a browser and on the servers behind it. Unlike most computing fields, it is genuinely well represented at the associate level as well as the bachelor’s level – two-year Web Development and Web Design and Development degrees are common online, and bachelor’s programs are usually titled Web Development, Web Design and Development, or a web concentration inside an information technology or computer science major. Standalone master’s degrees in web development are rare. There is no programmatic accreditor for web development, so institutional accreditation is the check that matters. Compare accredited programs below.
Web development coursework is unusually concrete: you write HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in the first term, and by the end you are building applications that talk to a database, authenticate users, and get deployed somewhere real. Accredited online programs generally deliver the same curriculum and degree titles as campus programs, and the subject is a natural fit for online delivery because the work itself is done at a keyboard. Browse the best accredited online colleges to compare schools that offer them.
These accredited schools offer online programs. Request information to compare programs, costs, and formats.
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS). To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked against schools at the same credential level:
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:Accreditor: Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University CommissionIPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:Accreditor: Northwest Commission on Colleges and UniversitiesIPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Web development graduates work at software companies, agencies, in-house marketing and product teams, universities, government agencies, healthcare systems, and as independent contractors. The occupations below are commonly associated with web development coursework. Median annual wages come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program.
Entry requirements differ across these occupations. Web developer roles, which had a median annual wage of $92,650 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), are the most direct destination and are commonly entered with an associate or bachelor’s degree plus a portfolio of working sites and applications. Web and digital interface designer roles, at a median annual wage of $104,000 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), lean toward interface design, information architecture, and accessibility rather than back-end engineering. Software developer roles, at a median annual wage of $135,980 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), typically expect a bachelor’s degree and broader computer science foundations, and many web developers move into them as their work grows past the browser. Information security analyst roles, at a median annual wage of $129,180 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), generally expect a bachelor’s degree plus security-specific experience; web application security is one common route in. Individual outcomes vary by employer, geography, and experience.
A web development degree trains you to build the front end that users interact with, the back end that stores and serves data, and the deployment setup that keeps both running. It is offered as an associate degree, as a bachelor’s degree titled Web Development or Web Design and Development, and as a web concentration inside an information technology or computer science major. Standalone master’s degrees in web development are uncommon.
Programs cover HTML, CSS, and JavaScript first, then a JavaScript framework, server-side programming, databases and SQL, APIs, responsive and accessible design, version control, web security fundamentals, and deployment. Most finish with a portfolio or capstone project built end to end.
Computer science is the broader and more theoretical degree – algorithms, data structures, systems, and the mathematics underneath them – and web development is one thing you can do with it. A web development degree is applied and vocational: less theory and mathematics, more time spent building working applications. Computer science travels further across job types; web development gets you building sooner. See the computer science program guide for that comparison.
Both routes place people into web development work, and neither is a guarantee. A bootcamp is shorter and cheaper and concentrates almost entirely on job-ready framework skills. A degree takes longer, carries transferable credit, covers foundations that outlast any one framework, and satisfies employers and government agencies that screen on credentials. The honest comparison is on is an online web development degree worth it.
No. There is no recognized programmatic accreditor specific to web development degrees. Verify that the institution holds accreditation from a recognized institutional accreditor such as HLC or SACSCOC through the U.S. Department of Education database. Some computer science departments hold ABET computing accreditation for their CS degrees, which is a separate check and does not extend to a web development program.
Web development curricula generally move through three layers, and unlike most computing fields you start building something visible in the first few weeks.
The first layer is the front end. HTML gives a document structure and meaning, CSS controls layout and presentation, and JavaScript makes the page respond to a user. Programs then add a component framework – React, Vue, or Angular are the common choices – along with responsive design for varying screen sizes and accessibility practices so that assistive technology can use what you built. Accessibility is worth checking for specifically: it is a legal requirement for many employers and a frequent gap in older curricula.
The second layer is the back end. This covers a server-side language, relational databases and SQL, data modeling, and the design of APIs that the front end calls. Authentication and session management usually appear here, along with the security fundamentals that come with them: input validation, protection against injection and cross-site scripting, safe password storage, and the reasoning behind HTTPS. A program that teaches you to build a login form without teaching you how it gets attacked is teaching half the subject.
The third layer is everything around the code. Version control with Git is standard from early on. Beyond that, stronger programs cover testing, build tooling, deployment to a hosting environment, basic performance work, and how a site behaves once real users are on it. This is also where full-stack curricula pull the pieces together into projects that go from a blank repository to something running at a URL.
At the associate level, expect roughly 60 credits, with general education taking a share and the remainder concentrated in applied web coursework. At the bachelor’s level, expect roughly 120 credits, with the web sequence spread across the middle and upper division and more room for databases, security, and a substantial capstone.
The work splits roughly into three shapes. Front-end positions build the interface – markup, styling, component code, accessibility, and performance in the browser. Back-end positions build the services, data models, and APIs behind it. Full-stack positions cover both, which is common at smaller organizations and agencies where one person owns a feature end to end.
Titles are inconsistent across employers, and “web developer,” “front-end engineer,” and “software engineer” can describe the same job at three companies or three different jobs at one. Read the responsibilities and the listed technologies rather than the title. A meaningful share of web development work is also contract and freelance, which changes how you should think about portfolio and client-facing skills. For general labor-market context on the occupations web development graduates commonly enter, see the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Web development or a related field? Choose web development for the fastest route to building and shipping working applications. Consider computer science if you want the deeper theoretical and systems foundation that travels across all software work, technology if you want a broader information technology degree with web as one component, or graphic design if your interest is visual design and the user’s experience of an interface rather than the code behind it.
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