The Best Computer Colleges

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is the top-rated computer science program in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report's rankings for 2008 (the last year that computer science programs were ranked). For 2009, MIT is listed as the top computer engineering program as well. In actuality, MIT tied, in both years and disciplines, with Stanford and the University of California, Berkeley, making all three programs the top rated programs in the United States.

  MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science makes up about 30 percent of the undergraduate student body. MIT offers a bachelor's degree, master's degree and doctorate in the field. The master's degrees offered include a Master of Science and a Master of Engineering degree. The department as a whole has several interrelated areas of emphasis that include systems, communication, control and signal processing, computer science, electronics, computers and systems, engineering physics and bioelectrical engineering. Other special research programs include those in nanotechnology and the relationship between the life sciences and computer science.

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
  50 Vassar Street
  Cambridge, MA 02139
  617-253-2917
  www.eecs.mit.edu

Stanford University

• Stanford University is also one of the top-rated computer science colleges in the nation. Like MIT, the Stanford computer science program is part of the School of Engineering. The Department of Computer Science at Stanford was founded in 1965 as has served as a leader in computer education and research ever since. In addition to the bachelor's degree, Stanford offers a master's degree in computer science (MSCS) and a Ph.D. with specializations in the areas of human computer interaction, real-world computing, systems, database systems, security, numerical analysis, theoretical computer science, biocomputation and artificial intelligence.

  Stanford University
  Department of Computer Science
  Gates Building, Room 196
  Stanford, CA 94305
  650-725-3140
  www-cs.stanford.edu

University of California--Berkeley

• The University of California at Berkeley (UCB) is the third program ranked at the top of the list, according to U.S. News and World Report. The UCB computer science program is also located within the UCB College of Engineering. Undergraduate programs at UCB include the Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts as well as a five-year bachelor's/master's degree program designed to give students the opportunity to gain both degrees during their undergraduate education. The master's degree offered by the college is the Master of Science in Computer Engineering. A Ph.D. is also possible through the college. Areas of specialization include communication, computation and statistics, computational and genomic biology, computational science and engineering, nanoscale science and engineering and new media. Beyond these degrees, students also have the opportunity to obtain a certificate in the management of technology (MOT) as they complete their degree programs. This certificate is given as the result of a collaborative effort between the College of Engineering and the Haas School of Business.

  University of California--Berkeley
  Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
  253 Cory Hall
  Berkeley, CA 94720
  510-642-3068
  www.eecs.berkeley.edu