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The world is changing quickly. And if you want to thrive in it, you have to keep up. With an online bachelor’s degree from a respected university like Maryville, you can gain the knowledge base to make you stand out to top employers.
Maryville offers 30+ bachelor’s degrees that fit seamlessly into your busy schedule. They all feature a flexible format, helpful transfer tips, and personalized support to help you succeed every step of the way.
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Today’s job market is more competitive than ever before. You need to set yourself apart, and that takes a certain amount of bravery. With an online master’s degree from Maryville University, you can stand out from the crowd, capture the attention of top employers, and position yourself for growth as a leader.
Study with us, and you can choose from several 100% online graduate programs that span a wide range of industries.
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As a seasoned professional in your field, it’s likely that you’re a key decision-maker. And now you’re ready to advance. You want to brave new territory in your industry and bring forth ideas that can transform the way you work. That’s exactly what an online doctoral degree from Maryville University prepares you to do.
We’ll challenge you to push your education beyond the barriers of the classroom and think through complex problems so you can deliver solutions that will make a lasting impact.
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Education is changing, and the professional landscape is evolving to keep up. More and more, students are opting to earn online certificates in addition to — or instead of — pursuing full college degrees.
Certificate programs exist at all levels. At Maryville University, we currently offer certificate programs with 100% online coursework at the bachelor’s, post-bachelor’s, and post-master’s levels, with more to come. If you’re looking for the most direct route toward upskilling, reskilling, or retooling your professional focus, an online certificate might be your best move.
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The world is changing quickly. And if you want to thrive in it, you have to keep up. With an online bachelor’s degree from a respected university like Maryville, you can gain the knowledge base to make you stand out to top employers.
Maryville offers 30+ bachelor’s degrees that fit seamlessly into your busy schedule. They all feature a flexible format, helpful transfer tips, and personalized support to help you succeed every step of the way.
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Home / Online Master’s Degree Programs / Online Master’s Degree in Software Development
DANNY P., MASTER’S IN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT — 2019 GRADDANNY P., MASTER’S IN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT — 2019 GRAD
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Today more than ever, companies need software developers who can keep up with the latest trends — in coding, apps, agile methodology, project management, and interface design — and turn this technology to their strategic advantage. When you earn your master’s in software development online at Maryville University, you’ll gain the skills to begin or advance your career in software development and seize the extraordinary opportunities this field has to offer.
Top career skills you can develop:
View our program guide for more information.
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100% online with no campus visits required
No GMAT, GRE, or application fee
Graduate in as little as 12 months
3 start times per year (Spring, Summer, and Fall)
4 coding classes, 5 management courses, 1 capstone
No previous experience in business required
Software developers create the computer programs essential to our modern world. Virtually all of today’s industries and organizations rely on software to support their operations, resulting in tremendous demand for software development professionals who command higher-than-average earnings.
In fact, Software Developer is ranked as the #1 ‘Best Job in America’ for 2023 on the U.S. News & World Report top 100 list. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that software developers typically earn salaries two to three times higher than the average for all occupations. The BLS projects that employment in the software developer field will grow by 26% by 2031 — much faster than the 15% average for all computer occupations.
Software development encompasses a wide range of roles and responsibilities. For example:
Software development experts with a master’s degree and the relevant experience can become project managers or computer and information systems managers — senior-level positions that oversee the software development process.
Earn your online software development degree from Maryville, and you can begin or advance your career as an:
In settings such as:
Find out more about careers in software development.
Your online master’s in software development can qualify you to pursue careers with median annual salaries such as these:
Software Developer
$120,730*
Web Developer/Digital Designer
$78,300*
Computer Programmer
$93,000*
DevOps Engineer
$101,173**
Software consultant
$83,478**
Data scientist
$100,910*
*BLS, May 2021; **PayScale.com, January 2023
A master’s in software development online puts you in an excellent position to advance in a rapidly growing field where career possibilities are wide and varied.
Software developers held about 1.5 million jobs in 2020 (Statista).
The median annual salary for software developers was $120,730 in 2021 (BLS).
The BLS projects employment in software development to grow 26% by 2031.
U.S. News & World Report ranks software developer #1 on its 2023 list of the 100 best jobs.
Our master’s in software development online program, which is part of the John E. Simon School of Business, prepares you for a career on the leading edge of software technology project management, and troubleshooting. Equipped with the knowledge this program provides, you can be the leader who creates the big ideas, develops them, and then manages them to launch and beyond. Your Maryville degree will carry the distinction of a university respected worldwide for its quality, value, and affordability.
As a student in Maryville’s online software development degree program, you’ll receive broad-based instruction in software design and development, coupled with deeper vertical studies of more complex and specialized applications.
The result is a curriculum structured for long-term success in a growing industry. You can complete the program 100% online in as little as 12 months. Learn more on our curriculum page.
Maximize your opportunity with our diverse curriculum.
Want to build your programming and agile methodology skills? Need to grow your knowledge of databases, automation, and cloud environments? Looking to create clean, user-friendly interfaces and design? We’ve built our online Master of Science in Software Development curriculum to help you achieve all of this and more.
At Maryville, you can gain an advanced understanding of the creation, architecture, and presentation of software and applications. And to top it off, you’ll have the opportunity to see your skills in action in our capstone course as you design, plan, develop, problem solve, and deploy a web application of your own.
Prepare for a high-tech career.
At Maryville, we designed our Master of Science in Software Development curriculum to help you meet today’s technology challenges and take advantage of the opportunities in this booming field. Our goal is to help you deepen your understanding of the tech and principles behind software design so you can grow into a capable and confident leader in the field.
Joseph Gradecki, program coordinator and instructor of software development, shared his thoughts about the software development program.
One of the core differences between our program and others is we do not chase trends, nor do we merely teach a language. Our goal is to give the students the fundamental skills of software development so they can use them in any programming language. We want to produce a software developer who can immediately move into the workplace regardless of the technology the employer uses. At the same time, we stay current, working with cloud platforms, for example. Employable software developers are those who have been exposed to the solid and proven technologies used today, and cloud is one such technology.
One of the primary skills will be time management. The program is rigorous, and weekly deadlines need to be met. The students will, in a sense, be forced to manage their time to accomplish the weekly assignments.
Another transferable skill is knowledge of software development fundamentals. We teach the fundamentals of development instead of just a language. The student should be able to take the fundamental tools we teach and use them in other software languages.
One of the biggest challenges is resources. There just aren’t enough software developers, and the trend will only get worse.
Also, there are many new technologies and frameworks created daily. My advice to students would be to resist the temptation to try to learn them all. Recognize those that will be long lasting and work to learn those technologies on your own time. Experiment and learn.
Focus on the fundamentals of software development versus just learning a language. Learn data structures and how those structures affect the underlying computing system. Learn about memory management. Resist the temptation to be a siloed developer who concentrates only on the front-end GUI or the back-end server. A great software developer can write code regardless of where that code will reside.
The following criteria are considered during the admission process for the online software development degree. Learn more on our admissions page.
Demonstrated English proficiency in one of the following ways:
*Low sub-scores may disqualify a student. Test dates must be within five years of application.
Software development encompasses many different roles and responsibilities, including project management, quality assurance, and testing. Completing your online master’s in software development can prepare you for careers in virtually any industry and sector, such as retail, financial services, government, or healthcare.
Find out more about careers in software development.
The median annual salary for professionals holding a Master of Science in Software Development was about $89,000 as of July 2021, according to PayScale.
Our online master’s degree in software development requires 30 graduate credit hours and can be completed in as few as 12 months. Students with eligible transfer credits may be able to complete it sooner.
Demand for software developers will be strong over the coming decade due to several factors, according to the BLS:
Earning your master’s degree in software development can put you on a path to career advancement, higher wages, and management-level positions. Master’s programs provide students with a deeper look into topics such as emerging technologies and allow for greater specialization, letting you explore areas that align with your professional interests and goals.
Bring us your ambition and we’ll guide you along a personalized path to a quality education that’s designed to change your life.
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