University of Minnesota Computer Science (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Computer Science
- Public university
- Minneapolis, MN
- About 612 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
University of Minnesota computer science graduates earn more than graduates of most computer science programs nationally, $82,861 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $19,500 in federal loans, close to the national median of $23,308. It is one of the higher-paying computer science degrees in Minnesota.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Minnesota and national columns are the medians across all computer science bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, University of Minnesota graduates earn more than the national figure and about $11,335 more than the Minnesota median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Minnesota computer science program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Minnesota medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 34% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned about the same in their first year as other graduates. They also borrowed less. At this program, the outcome does not look worse for students with less money.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $207 a month, or 3.0% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual. Separately, 89 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $23,889.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
79% of graduates (272 of 345) were working in Minnesota one year after graduating. Prices in the Minneapolis area are about 5% above the national average, so a $82,861 salary here buys what about $79,049 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to computer science, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Software Developers
$130,050Median pay in Minnesota. 35,890 people work in this job in Minnesota. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 95,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Computer and Information Systems Managers
$176,380Median pay in Minnesota. 10,970 people work in this job in Minnesota. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 16% from 2025 to 2035, with about 53,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
Data Scientists
$128,800Median pay in Minnesota. 4,020 people work in this job in Minnesota. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 35% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Information Security Analysts
$130,710Median pay in Minnesota. 2,680 people work in this job in Minnesota. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 21% from 2025 to 2035, with about 14,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
About University of Minnesota
Computer Science ranks 2nd of 88 bachelor's programs at University of Minnesota by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Engineering ($85,672), Computer Science ($82,861), and Electrical Engineering ($79,808).
Other computer science bachelor's programs near Minneapolis
Common questions
The median graduate earns $82,861 one year after graduating and $111,199 five years after. The median across computer science bachelor's programs in Minnesota is $72,865.
The median federal loan balance is $19,500, which ranks 2nd lowest of 13 computer science bachelor's programs in Minnesota. That works out to about $207 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 24% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 34%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 5% or less.
Most do. 79% (272 of 345) were working in Minnesota one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Minnesota comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the computer science program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024