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College of Engineering

Software Engineering

students interacting in computer lab

A Software Engineer
In The Making

Software is everywhere. As the key component in all surrounding you, software impacts every part of your life. It’s in your cell phones, vehicles, homes and cities. Even in agricultural machinery, hospitals and agile factories, software is paving the way to higher productivity. It is at the heart of what makes our world more efficient and connected every day.

Your Discovery In The Making

Software engineers deliver projects through planning, designing and testing software. At each stage of product development, software engineers ensure programs are correct and reliable and interact seamlessly with technology and hardware developed by other engineers. Emerging trends support software reuse to enhance productivity. This requires abstraction layers that make software agnostic to the underlying hardware and systems. Not only does Iowa State University’s software engineering program prepare you for the existing world of software engineering, but we also work to foster skills necessary to learn and adapt to the future landscape of this discipline.

 

Your Path In The Making

Software development tools and practices have come a long way, allowing a software engineer to produce hundreds of thousands of lines of code in a few days. A software engineer can help create software systems for diverse technologies like airplanes, medical electronics and traditional web servers.

One of the earliest developed programs in the country, our software engineering degree program continues to receive top rankings. As the largest computing major on campus, we offer fast-growing career options which afford students opportunities through impressive post-graduation job placement rates and salaries with top companies worldwide.

Learn multiple skills: In software engineering, learning involves combining skills in computer science, engineering and math while solving problems and managing projects. Whether working independently or on teams, this learning will help you effectively support both the business and technology sides of organizations to meet the needs of end users.

Hands-on experience: As a leader in the advancement of software engineering education, we deliver hands-on experience for creating software from conception to assessment. Software engineering majors work with professors on research projects in areas such as modern secure software systems, design, configuration management, testing and safety.

With a software engineering degree, you will be in high demand, and opportunities will evolve quickly with advancing technology. Software engineers work in all types of industries, building software in cars, airplanes, agricultural machinery, medical systems and more. Each year, top software companies come to Iowa State to recruit our students.

As a software engineer, you can:

  • Develop new video games using advanced video game engines
  • Design mobile apps for the iOS and Android operating systems
  • Create and enhance software to run systems in cars, airplanes and robots
  • Develop software for operating medical equipment, such as pacemakers and ultrasound machines

Your Career In The Making

Many of our graduates have built successful careers not only as engineers, but also as managers, entrepreneurs, sales representatives and consultants.

  • The average starting salary of our software engineering graduates is more than $84,700/year.
  • Co-op and internship salaries for our students average more than $25/hour.
  • Approximately 1,400 companies recruit our engineers every year.
  • 93 percent of our software engineering students have positive career outcomes within six months of graduation.