US College Programs

Computer Science (Bachelor's) Programs in Iowa, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

  • 5 programs report first-year pay
  • 5 also report federal debt
  • Bachelor's in Computer Science

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Iowa computer science bachelor's program pays its graduates $70,950 in their first year, $550 more than the national median. Grinnell College reports the highest first-year pay ($84,449), and Grinnell College the lowest median debt ($16,375).

Median first-year pay$70,950National $70,400
Median pay after 5 years$108,762National $105,613
Median federal debt$25,000National $23,308
Debt-to-earnings35%National 34%

All 5 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

Debt and first-year pay at every Iowa computer science program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Iowa medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

  1. Grinnell College$84,449
  2. Iowa State$78,517
  3. Simpson College$70,950
  4. University of Northern Iowa$65,960
  5. Luther College$63,760

Lowest median debt

  1. Grinnell College$16,375
  2. Iowa State$24,663
  3. Simpson College$25,000
  4. University of Northern Iowa$26,200
  5. Luther College$27,000

Lowest debt for the pay

  1. Grinnell College19%
  2. Iowa State31%
  3. Simpson College35%
  4. University of Northern Iowa40%
  5. Luther College42%

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

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

$114,890

Median pay in Iowa. 9,040 people work in this job in Iowa. 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.

Bottom 10%: $74,390Top 10%: $165,880

Computer and Information Systems Managers

$143,780

Median pay in Iowa. 3,920 people work in this job in Iowa. 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.

Bottom 10%: $101,340Top 10%: $213,730

Data Scientists

$95,830

Median pay in Iowa. 2,300 people work in this job in Iowa. 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.

Bottom 10%: $56,070Top 10%: $146,700

Information Security Analysts

$119,710

Median pay in Iowa. 1,160 people work in this job in Iowa. 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.

Bottom 10%: $71,550Top 10%: $169,620

Common questions

Grinnell College in Grinnell reports the highest median first-year pay, $84,449. Its median federal debt is $16,375.

Related pages

Computer Science (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked331 programs by pay and debt

About this data

  • Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
  • 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 Iowa rankings when their main campus is in another state.
  • Medians are across the computer science bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024