Top universities in the US for computer science (2024)

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The recentlyreleasedQS World University Rankings by Subject 2021features 651 of the best universities tostudycomputer sciencein the world – with110of these located inUnited States

The QS World University Rankings by Subject are based on four indicators: academic reputation, employer reputation, research citations per paper and the H-index (a way of measuring the productivity and published work of a scientist or scholar). You can find more details about the methodology behind the subjectrankingshere.

Read on to learn more about the top 10computer science schools inthe USin 2021.

Alternatively, if you would like to explore the computer science schools in further detail,clickhereto view the full table.

10.Cornell University

Part of the prestigious Ivy League group,Cornell Universityis currently ranked19thin the world for computer science, earning a high score in the H-index.

Its department of computer science was established in 1965, making it one of the oldest of its kind in the country. Based in Ithaca, the university runs a technology-focused graduate campus inNew York City, known as Cornell Tech.

9.Columbia University

Also in the state of New York is Columbia University, ranking 18thand earning its best score in the research citations per paper indicator.

Mostgraduates from Columbia’s computer sciencego into positions in computer science with industry or government. Otherschoose tocontinue their education orgo into other careers in business administration, medicine or other professional studies.

8.University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Eighth in the US and 17thglobally for computer science isThe University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). UCLA earns high scores across most of the indicators, particularly in the H-index and research citations per paper indicators, reflecting the quality of the school’s research.

Its computer science faculty is part of the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. It iscredited as being ‘the birthplace of the internet’, as the first transmission of what would become the internet was sent from the university’s Boelter Hall in 1969.

7.University of Washington

Rising three positions to15thplace globally,University of Washington is the seventh best university in theUS this year.The school earns its highest score intheresearch citations per paper and H-indexindicators.

The University of Washington’s college of computer science and engineering was established as an inter-college graduate program in 1967. Undergraduates often participate in research, with 33 students at the university winning the Computing Research Association Undergraduate Research Award over a decade, more than any other program in the nation.

6.Princeton University

Ranked 14thin the world for computer scienceand sixth in the USisPrinceton University.Earning near-perfect scores across each of the indicators, theuniversityperforms particularly well in the research citations per paper and the H-index indicators.

Princeton University’scomputer science department is part of the university’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, in which 1,900 students are enrolled. Its alumni include ‘father of computer science’ Alan Turing, computer scientists Alonzo Church and John von Neumann, and Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos.

5.Harvard University

Harvard University ranks seventh in the world and fifth in theUKHarvard UniversityUS.Its computer science department is part of the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (founded in 1847, with computer science courses available from 1984).

Famous technology magnates to have studied at Harvard include Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Facebook founder MarkZuckerberg(both of whom famously ‘dropped out’ to pursue their careers in tech).

4.University of California, Berkeley (UCB)

The University of California, Berkeley is rankedfifthin the world and fourth in the USfor computer science this year.Like MIT, Berkeleycombines its computer science school withelectrical engineering.

The Turing Award, known as the ‘Nobel Prize in computing’ has been awarded to 11 alumni and 10 past and present faculty members of Berkeley, including Douglas Engelbart, the inventor of the computer mouse.

3.Carnegie Mellon University

Coming third in theUS foritscomputer sciencecourseisCarnegie Mellon University, based in the city ofPittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Carnegie Mellon University earns a perfect score in the academic reputation indicator – the best school in the US for this indicator.

ItsSchool of Computer Science is based at the Gates and Hillman Centers, a US$98 million complex which opened in 2009 and has achieved LEED Gold certification for its high levels of sustainability.

2.Stanford University

Ranked second for computer scienceboth in the US and globally, Stanford University’s setting near the famous Silicon Valley inCaliforniamakes it unique amongst these top universities in the US, with many of the world’s largest high-tech corporations right on its doorstep.

Stanford’s computer science department was founded in 1965 and is part of the university’s School of Engineering.

1.Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

TheMassachusettsInstitute of Technology(MIT)offers the world’s bestcomputer scienceprogramme for another year running.MIT’s computer science department, combined withelectrical engineering, is the largest department at the institution.

The university is well-known for its innovative research in this area, with its computer science faculty and researchers having made fundamental contributions to cybernetics, artificial intelligence, computer languages, machine learning, robotics, and cryptography.MIT earns its highest score in the employer reputation indicatorthis year.

Other top universities in the US for computer science

Many more top universities in the UScan be found in thecomputer science rankings, including theNew York University(NYU, 21st),California Institute of Technology(Caltech, 22nd) and theUniversity of Texas at Austin(28th). Six more US universities feature in the global top 50 for computer science, and10more in the top 100.

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