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With a computer programming degree, you can create and test the code for software and applications people use daily.

Computer programmers play an integral role in developing new technology and work closely with software engineers and developers. Because computer science careers often overlap, many of the best computer programming degrees focus on software development or computer science as a whole.

Graduates with a bachelor’s in computer programming can land programming positions in numerous industries or pursue similar occupations like computer systems analysts, network administrators, or software developers. Varied career opportunities combined with the annual median pay of $89,190 attract many aspiring programmers.

Explore the best online computer programming degrees below to begin a successful computer science career.

The best online bachelor’s in computer programming degrees

Our experts examined federally-reported datasets and used a proprietary ranking algorithm to create the following list of the best online computer programming degrees. Learn more about the professional contributors and unique formulas behind ZDNet’s ranking methodology here.

Unless otherwise indicated, data is drawn from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, College Scorecard, and each program’s website.

1. Fort Hays State University

Hays, Kansas

About the program: FHSU offers a bachelor’s in computer science with four mandatory web development classes. Other courses include programming languages, data structures, and computer graphics.

Acceptance rate: 91%
Graduation rate: 58%
Annual net price: $12,053
Years to degree: Four
SAT range: 1080 minimum
Minimum GPA: 2.5 for high school courses; 2.0 for college courses
Enrollment periods per year: Rolling
Course delivery methods: Online and asynchronous

Accreditation: Fort Hays State University is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).

2. Champlain College

Burlington, Vermont

About the program: Champlain’s bachelor’s program in software development covers over 20 programming languages, software, and platforms and prepares graduates for C++ programming certification.

Acceptance rate: 85%
Graduation rate: 61%
Annual net price: $33,561
Years to degree: Three to four; part- and full-time options and accelerated 7-week terms available
SAT range: 1110-1320
Minimum GPA: Recommended 2.5
Enrollment periods per year: Three; rolling transfers
Course delivery methods: Online and asynchronous

Accreditation: Champlain College is regionally accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE).

3. Husson University

Bangor, Maine

About the program: Husson offers a 121-credit online software development degree program full of hands-on courses. The curriculum includes programming, IT trends, marketing, and management classes.

Acceptance rate: 85%
Graduation rate: 59%
Annual net price: $18,286
Years to degree: Four
SAT range: 960-1140
Minimum GPA: Not required
Enrollment periods per year: Rolling
Course delivery methods: Online and asynchronous

Accreditation: Husson University is regionally accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE).

4. Limestone University

Gaffney, South Carolina

About the program: Limestone’s bachelor’s in computer science — programming prioritizes problem-solving skills. Classes like object-oriented programming, project management, and microcomputer applications prepare students for the workforce.

Acceptance rate: 51%

Graduation rate: 48%

Annual net price: $22,707

Years to degree: Three to four; part- and full-time options available

SAT range: 970-1160

Minimum GPA: Not required

Enrollment periods

JavaScript rules the roost, but Python is making huge gains.

Image: Maskot / Getty Images

JavaScript is now used by more than 16.4 million developers globally, says a survey of more than 19,000 coders – making it the world’s most popular programming language “by a wide margin”.

SlashData’s 21st State of the Developer Nation Report examined global software developer trends across 160 countries during Q3 2021, covering programming languages, tools, APIs, apps and technology segments, as well as attitudes of developers themselves.

The report also looked at developer involvement in 5G and IoT, specifically how programmers were taking advantage of new advances in technology in tools, apps and services.

SEE: Programming languages: Python’s new developer in residence and their ‘make-it-or-break-it’ role

JavaScript’s ongoing popularity in web and backend applications supported its position as the most popular programming language in Q3 2021. While not necessarily a surprise in itself – JavaScript has, after all, been the world’s most-used language for a number of years now – SlashData found that upwards of 2.5 million developers had joined the JavaScript community in the past six months alone. That’s the same as the entire user base of Swift; or, the combined communities of Rust and Ruby.

The data for JavaScript also included language derivatives TypeScript and CoffeeScript.

Python might not be a close second, but its popularity is impressive nonetheless: according to SlashData, the language is now used by some 11.3 million coders, primarily within data science and machine learning, and IoT applications.

The brainchild of Guido van Rossum, Python’s popularity has exploded in recent years, overtaking that of Java, which is currently used by 9.6m developers. Java remains a go-to for mobile and desktop apps, SlashData’s survey found.

According to SlashData, Python added 2.3m developers to its community in the past 12 months. “That’s a 25% growth rate, one of the highest across all the large programming language communities of more than 7M users,” the report noted.

“The rise of data science and machine learning (ML) is a clear factor in Python’s popularity. More than 70% of ML developers and data scientists report using Python. For perspective, only 17% use R, the other language often associated with data science.”

slashdata-programming-language-community-size-q32021.jpg — JavaScript, Python, Java, C/C++, PHP and C# top the programming language popularity charts.

Image: SlashData

Of course, determining the developer base of any particular programming language is not an exact science. “It can be hard to assess how widely used a programming language is,” noted SlashData. Its figures are based on two pieces of data: the organization’s own estimate of the number of software developers worldwide (which it puts at 26.8 million), as well as its bi-yearly surveys, which SlashData said reach “tens of thousands of developers every six months”. So, there is some margin for error.

Rounding out the top five most popular languages were C/C++ (7.5m developers), PHP (7.3m) and C# (7.1m). Of these, PHP has grown the fastest over the past six months, SlashData reported, acquiring one million new developers between