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2025 Best Computer Software & Applications Master's Degree Schools in California

3 Colleges in California
364 Master's Degrees
$94,970 Avg Early-Career Salary
a master's degree in computer software & applications is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #50 out of 343 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 3 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Computer Software & Applications Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 364 master's degrees in computer software & applications during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Computer Software & Applications School for Your Master's Degree

Best Computer Software & Applications Master's Degree Schools in California Your choice of computer software & applications for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality computer software program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we consider a college's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for computer software & applications students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Computer Software Rankings Other Ranking Categories

The computer software school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Computer Software & Applications Master's Degree Schools in California.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Computer Software & Applications in California

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in computer software & applications.

Top California Schools for a Master's in Computer Software

1

It's difficult to beat University of Southern California if you want to pursue a master's degree in computer software & applications. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Computer Software & Applications master's degree recipients from University of Southern California earn a boost of around $39,831 above the typical income of computer software & applications graduates.

More information about a master’s in computer software & applications from University of Southern California

2
30 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat University of California - Santa Cruz if you wish to pursue a master's degree in computer software & applications. Located in the city of Santa Cruz, UC Santa Cruz is a public university with a large student population.More information about a master’s in computer software & applications from University of California - Santa Cruz

3
Academy of Art University crest
Academy of Art University
San Francisco, CA

Academy of Art University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in computer software & applications. Academy of Art University is a medium-sized private for-profit university located in the large city of San Francisco.

After graduation, computer software master's recipients generally earn an average of $55,139 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a master’s in computer software & applications from Academy of Art University

Best Computer Software & Applications Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Computer Software & Applications Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 183 4

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Computer Software & Applications is one of 10 different types of Computer & Information Sciences programs to choose from.

Computer Software Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Modeling, Virtual Environments & Simulation 124
Web & Multimedia Design 91
Data Modeling/Warehousing & Database Administration 74
Other Computer Software & Media Applications 40
Computer Graphics 35

Majors Similar to Computer Software

Related Major Annual Graduates
Computer Science 3,877
Computer Information Systems 961
Information Science 642
Information Technology 444
Data Processing 97
Computer Systems Networking 17
Other Computer & Information Sciences 1

Notes and References

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