Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering Online

Deepen your understanding of all aspects of software engineering with this dynamic online degree. Improve your communication and teamwork skills as you prepare for careers in this growing field.

Apply by: 12/27/24 Request Info
Start class: 1/12/25 Apply Now

Program Overview

Develop expert analysis, design and development skills with the B.S. Software Engineering online program

$ Total Tuition
Varies Program Duration
122 Credit Hours

Gain the expertise to develop quality software for a variety of clients and organizations by applying state-of-the-art agile techniques. The online Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering from St. Cloud State gives you valuable experience with the software life cycle, engineering tools and database management.

Explore industry skills like 3D simulation and visualization, agile development, and human-computer interaction in the online coursework for this software engineering bachelor’s. Program curriculum focuses on communication skills and project-based learning that prepares you to deliver top-quality software as an individual or as part of a team. This innovative program is developed and maintained through consultation with subject matter experts within the industry.

Designed for working professionals, this program offers the flexibility you need to achieve your goals, and you can complete your program faster by transferring up to 90 credit hours.

Graduates of this online B.S. Software Engineering program will be able to:

  • Demonstrate an understanding of and apply current theories, models and techniques that provide a basis for the software life cycle
  • Apply the software engineering life cycle by demonstrating competence in communication, planning, analysis, design, construction and deployment
  • Work as an individual and as part of a multidisciplinary team to develop and deliver quality software
  • Demonstrate an ability to use the techniques and tools necessary for engineering practice
  • Exhibit ability to work in one or more significant application domains
Graduates of this online B.S. Software Engineering program will be able to:+
  • Demonstrate an understanding of and apply current theories, models and techniques that provide a basis for the software life cycle
  • Apply the software engineering life cycle by demonstrating competence in communication, planning, analysis, design, construction and deployment
  • Work as an individual and as part of a multidisciplinary team to develop and deliver quality software
  • Demonstrate an ability to use the techniques and tools necessary for engineering practice
  • Exhibit ability to work in one or more significant application domains

This online software engineering degree program equips you to explore a variety of careers, including:

  • Software/System Analyst
  • Software/System Architect
  • Software Developer/Programmer
This online software engineering degree program equips you to explore a variety of careers, including:+
  • Software/System Analyst
  • Software/System Architect
  • Software Developer/Programmer

Also available:

St. Cloud State offers several online undergraduate programs. Check out all our online undergraduate programs.

Per Credit Hour $350*
Transfer Credits Up to 90
Credit Hours 122

Accreditation

Higher Learning Commission logo

St. Cloud State University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (hlcommission.org), a regional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

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Need More Information?

Call 888-439-0687

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North Star Promise Scholarship

The North Star Promise Scholarship program, launching in fall 2024, offers eligible Minnesota residents a tuition-free path to a bachelor’s degree. This scholarship program covers any remaining tuition and fees after other financial aid has been applied. Eligibility is based on factors such as residency, family income and enrollment status. Learn more about the North Star Promise Scholarship.

Tuition

Keep your budget intact with our affordable tuition

Affordable tuition helps pave the way to meeting your goals. Our pay-by-the-course tuition is an excellent way to manage your budget.

Tuition breakdown:

$ Total Tuition
$350 Per Credit Hour
View additional tuition information +

Program Per Credit Hour* Per Course**
B.S. Software Engineering $350 $1,050

**Per Course rate is based on 3 credit hours.

*Tuition includes all standard fees and is subject to change without notice. The University reserves the right to increase tuition and fees at any time. Local students may opt-in to additional fees giving them access to several on-campus resources. Click here for more information on the cost of attendance for St. Cloud State University.

For more information on financial aid, please visit our Accelerated Online Programs page.

Per Credit Hour $350*

Calendar

Add these important dates and deadlines to your calendar

Our online B.S. Software Engineering offers 7-week courses and multiple start dates. Start when you’re ready!

Now enrolling:

12/27/24 Apply Date
1/12/25 Class Starts

View full calendar  + 

TermStart DateApp DeadlineDocument DeadlineRegistration DeadlineTuition Deadline
Spring A1/12/2512/27/241/6/251/8/251/21/25
Spring B3/9/252/24/253/3/253/5/253/18/25
Summer A5/11/254/28/255/5/255/7/255/20/25
Summer B7/6/256/20/256/26/257/1/257/15/25
Fall A8/31/258/18/258/25/258/27/259/9/25
Fall B10/26/2510/20/2510/20/2510/22/2511/4/25

Now enrolling:

Apply Date 12/27/24
Class Starts 1/12/25

Have questions or need more information about our online programs?

Request Info

Ready to take the rewarding path toward earning your degree online from St. Cloud State?

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Admissions

We make applying to the software engineering bachelor's online program simple

We offer a streamlined admission process to make it easier for you. Review the admission requirements below.

  • No SAT or ACT required
  • 2.0 GPA in prior college coursework
  • Transfer up to 90 credit hours
View all admission requirements +

University Admission Requirements

There are several paths to admittance at St. Cloud State University:

Transfer Students (out of high school and who have attempted any college-level credit)

  • Students who have completed 12 credit hours or more are eligible for admission with a cumulative college GPA of 2.0 or higher (on a 4.0 scale)
  • Students with less than 12 credit hours are reviewed using SCSU’s freshman requirements

Freshman Students (out of high school and who have not completed any college-level credit)

  • Students are eligible for admission with a high school GPA of 2.25 or higher (on a 4.0 scale)

Submitting Documents

  • Students who have earned less than 15 college-level credits must submit official high school transcripts or GED. Put in a request with your high school counseling office to send an official transcript directly to SCSU.
  • There are two ways to send transcripts to SCSU from non-Minnesota State institutions (SCSU will download official transcripts for coursework completed at a Minnesota State College or University):
    • Via mail to:
      • Office of Records and Registration
      St. Cloud State University
      720 4th Avenue South
      St. Cloud, MN 56301-4498

If you have any questions along the way, call us at 888-439-0687. We’re happy to help answer questions.

Courses

Browse the coursework for the B.S. in Software Engineering online program

To earn your Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering online, you will need to complete 122 total credit hours of coursework. These hours will include general education courses as well as courses specific to the major program and electives. Finish faster by transferring up to 90 previously earned credits, which may count toward the 122. Potential transfer credits will be evaluated during the admission process.

Expand All
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Major ethical theories; sources of ethics; professional responsibilities; social impact of engineering ethics; teamwork skills; design; engineering careers.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Introduction to general operating systems design and applications. Overview of installation, configuration, operation, and troubleshooting of Windows and Unix operating systems.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Database management, design, and implementation. Database theory, data modeling, relational data concepts, data normalization, relational algebra, Structured Query Language (SQL), database design. Use of conventional Database Management Systems (DBMS) and modeling tools.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Recursion and recurrence. Trees, binary trees, 2/3 trees, directed and undirected graphs, searching and sorting, program layering. Sequential file processing, indexed files, and hashing techniques.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Modern symmetric-key ciphers, asymmetric-key cryptography, integrity, authentication, key management, message authentication, digital signatures, entity authentication, application-layer security, SSL and TLS, IPSec.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 4
Software process models, software life-cycle (planning, requirements, design, construction, quality assurance, and maintenance), software security, Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice. Lab.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 4
Concepts of human-computer interaction, user-centered design, heuristic evaluation, and evaluation of software usability. Lab.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Advanced applied research topics in software engineering.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Software requirements analysis, requirement specification, elicitation, verification and validation, quality assurance metrics.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Formal methods of software analysis/design. Design patterns, standard middle-ware, software architecture including object/function oriented design. Design quality assurance management. Reverse engineering.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Quality assurance concepts and their role in software development. Planning, validation and verification, testing, configuration and delivery management.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Implementation and testing, state-based, table-driven, and low-level design of software. Design patterns and refactoring. Analysis of designs based on quality criteria, performance and maintainability improvement.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Use knowledge areas and develop procedures, skills, and resources for successful management of software projects.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Credit for off-campus professional experience with industry partners, non-profit organizations or government agencies.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
First part of a group project/research course. Pursue projects or research with faculty adviser, within an area of Software Engineering.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Second of a full year, group project/research course. Students pursue projects or research, with a faculty adviser, within an area of Software Engineering.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 4
Data abstraction, elementary data structures, library classes, pointers and files. Sorting and searching. Error handling and recovery. Time and space analysis of algorithms. Standard representations (e.g. UML) of classes and objects.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 4
Recursion and recurrence. Trees, binary trees, 2/3 trees, directed and undirected graphs, searching and sorting, program layering. Sequential file processing, indexed files, and hashing techniques.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 4
Rhetorical situations, purposes, audience and ethical issues in workplace writing genres. Collaboration processes, layout/format conventions, clarity and correctness. May include oral presentations, usability testing, portfolios.
Students must complete a total of 30 credits in Math and Basic Science.

1. MATH Requirement: 14 credits of Math is required: MATH271, MATH221, MATH312, STAT353
2. MATH Electives (6 credits from): MATH222, MATH320, MATH304, MATH321
3. SCIENCE Requirement: 10 credits of Science is required (goal area can overlap with this) Goal area 3
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Formal logic, sets, relations, functions, introduction to number theory and graph theory, basic counting principle, discrete probability, applications.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 4
Limits, continuity, differentiation, applications of derivatives, integration.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Matrices, matrix operations, systems of linear equations, determinants, geometry of R-n, vector spaces, subspaces, linear transformations, inner products, eigenvalues.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Probability distributions; introduction to statistical methods, including hypothesis testing and confidence intervals, one-way anova, simple linear regression, quality control basics; applications, and the use of statistical software.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 4
Integration techniques and applications, inverse functions, topics in analytic geometry, sequences and series, improper integrals, plane curves.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Vectors, functions of several variables, gradients, multiple integrals, applications.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Techniques of proof reading and writing; review of discrete mathematics; computer representation of numbers; induction; automata and grammars; computational complexity; formal logic; sets and transfinite cardinalities; construction of the familiar number systems. A transition to upper-level courses, with emphasis on reasoning and proof.

Select 9 credits from the following areas:

Visualization & Gaming: CSCI450, SE482, SE466
Data Management & Analytics: SE412, SE413
Mobile Application Development: SE276, SE477
System Integration & Transformation: SE478, SE479
Other/Reverse Engineering : SE450, CSCI 220

Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Technology and techniques for generating graphics, transforms for viewing and manipulation of objects, perspective projection, color, light, and texture models. Animation and specialized graphics algorithms. Integrated Lab.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Computer animation logic and programming. Data representation and visualization. Motion capture technologies. Optimization and physical animation techniques.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Game design teams and processes, Game scripting and programming, Game data structures and algorithms, Artificial intelligence, Play testing.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Mining interesting information from large data sets. Statistical analysis and machine learning, data mining concepts and techniques, data representation and their similarity/dissimilarity measures, data pre-processing, frequent pattern mining, supervised and unsupervised modeling.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Data analytics concepts and techniques. Big-data features and representations, data collection and sampling, predicative modeling, frequent patterns, social networks analysis, data benchmarking and privacy, data modeling and documentation.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Mobile application development frameworks; architecture, design and engineering issues, techniques, methodologies for mobile application development.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Design of Mobile Applications. Mobile application frameworks, advanced mobile user-interface interactions involving sensors, event handling, data management and network communication.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Enterprise system integration, process management and workflow, supply chain management, customer relationship management.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Technological and managerial aspects of information technology. Change management and transformation. Process review and risk management.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Analyzing and understanding software, without access to source code or design documents. Deducing the design of a software component. Recovering specifications, discover data use, and analyzing software via disassembly and decompilation.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 4
CPU architecture, number systems, digital circuit design, assembly language programming, VHDL programming. Lab.

MISSION:  The Liberal Education Program (LEP) at St. Cloud State University is committed to the ideal of liberal education that provides knowledge, skills, and experiences and promotes critical thinking and ethical values for a lifetime of integrative learning in a diverse and changing society.

The Liberal Education Curriculum is organized into 10 goals. To complete the curriculum, students must achieve the 10 goals through courses or experiences and earn at least 40 credits in liberal education courses. Some goals may be satisfied by experiences other than courses (e.g., approved internship, study abroad, completion of major, or sequence of courses). Some courses may achieve two goals, and experiences may not be credit bearing, so students may complete the goals with fewer than 40 credits. Those students must complete additional liberal education courses to earn the required 40 credits. Liberal Education courses may be double counted as courses required for a major or minor. Courses used in the major may be designated as Liberal Education.

Each student must complete three courses designated as Diversity courses. Students may take no more than one course from any one department. One of the Diversity courses must be an approved Racial Issues Graduation Requirement course (RIGR).

Students majoring in Software Engineering do not have to take any courses in goal areas 3 or 4, since these are covered by the Math and Science requirements. The total number of credits needed can vary depending on the choice of courses. Please consult with your advisor about your selection.

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