BYU-Idaho Computer Science & Software Engineering

What You Just Learned

One Number Repainted the Whole Page

What You Just Did

When you moved the slider, a small program took your number, calculated a new set of colors, and swapped them into the page while you watched.

The Idea behind It

  • Variables and Events: The page listens for you to move the slider and stores your choice in a variable.
  • Color Math: Every color is calculated so text stays readable at every level, from 1% to 100%.
  • Saving a Preference: Your browser remembers your setting for the next visit.
  • Accessibility: The program checks contrast so people with low vision can still read the page.

Where You Would Learn This

CSE 110 Introduction to Programming, WDD 130 Web Fundamentals, and WDD 131 Dynamic Web Fundamentals, all in your first two semesters.

A computer can change a color. A person decides whether everyone can still read it.

Software Engineering (B.S.)

Build Software People Actually Use.

Take an idea from a sketch on a whiteboard to an app real people open every day. Program it with your team, test it, launch it, and watch someone use it for the first time. That feeling never gets old.

Pick Your Specialty Apply to BYU-Idaho
Students and an instructor work through a problem together on laptopsAn instructor helps a student at a laptop

Is This You?

You Might Love Software Engineering If You

You like making things, and you like it even more when people use them. That is software engineering in one sentence.

  • Have ever thought, “Someone should make an app for that”
  • Would rather build with friends than work alone
  • Want to know how the code inside a car or a smartwatch really works
  • Get annoyed when an app crashes and want to be the one who debugs it
  • Want to launch your career right after graduation

Pick Your Specialty

Four Ways to Be a Software Engineer

Everyone learns the core: Programming, teamwork, databases, and shipping a real product. Then you choose where to go deep.

Software Design

Design Systems Built to Last

The apps on your phone are millions of lines of code built by hundreds of engineers. Master object-oriented design, design patterns, and software architecture so it keeps growing without falling apart.

Courses include CSE 130, CSE 230, CSE 331 Design Patterns, CSE 430 Architectural Design, and a two-part senior project.

Leads To: Software engineer, software architect

Full Stack Web Development

Build the Whole Web App

Design the UI people see and click, then build the APIs, servers, and databases that power it. By the end, you can launch a complete web product yourself.

Courses include WDD 231 Web Frontend Development, CSE 340 Web Backend Development, WDD 331R Advanced CSS, WDD 360 Full Stack Foundations, and WDD 430.

Leads To: Web developer, front-end or back-end developer, full stack engineer

Embedded Systems

Put Code inside Real Machines

Cars, smartwatches, and medical devices all run on code someone had to write. Program microcontrollers in C, work with digital logic and computer architecture, and make real machines move, sense, and respond.

Courses include CSE 121C C Language, ECEN 240 Digital Systems, ECEN 260 Microprocessor-Based System Design, ECEN 324 Computer Architecture, and ECEN 361 Embedded Systems.

Leads To: Embedded systems developer, real-time software developer, firmware engineer

Quality Assurance

Make Sure Nothing Breaks

Be the reason an app works perfectly on launch day. Write automated tests, hunt down security vulnerabilities, run UX research with real users, and help lead the team that ships it.

Courses include CSE 270 Software Testing, CSE 372 Requirements Elicitation, CSE 453 Computer Security, CSE 471 UX Research, and BUS 309 Project Management.

Leads To: QA engineer, automation engineer, software test engineer

Try It

Wire the Circuit

Flip switches through logic gates to light a lamp, then build the circuit that adds numbers inside every chip. Same on and off signals every app runs on.

Play Circuit Builder

Your Path

What Four Years Can Look Like

Pick your degree and see the core courses you will take. Your advisor helps you shape the rest.

Choose Your Specialty:
  1. Year 1

    Learn to Build

    • CSE 110Introduction to Programming
    • CSE 111Programming with Functions
    • CSE 170Technical Teamwork
    • CSE 199RFreshman Discovery Project
    • ECEN 106Computer Systems
    • WDD 130 · WDD 131Web Fundamentals, Dynamic Web Fundamentals
    • ElectivesRoom for a minor, more depth, or another passion
  2. Year 2

    Build the Foundation

    • CSE 210Programming with Classes
    • CSE 212Programming with Data Structures
    • CSE 280 · MATH 119Discrete Mathematics, Calculus
    • CSE 310Applied Programming
    • CSE 370Software Engineering Principles
    • DS 250Data Science Programming
    • ITM 220SQL
    • ElectivesRoom for a minor, more depth, or another passion
  3. Year 3

    Go Deep

    • CSE 300Professional Readiness
    • CSE 351Parallelism & Concurrency
    • CSE 381Algorithms & Complexity
    • CSE 382Patterns & Data Structures
    • CSE 399RProduct Development Project
    • ITM 350DevOps
    • ElectivesRoom for a minor, more depth, or another passion
  4. Internship and Year 4

    Work and Specialize

    • CSE 398Internship, usually between semesters
    • CSE 4xxTwo advanced topics you choose
    • ElectivesRoom for a minor, more depth, or another passion

This is one suggested sequence. Review other course-plan options and flowcharts, then tailor a specific plan with an advisor today.

How You Will Learn

Engineers Own the Result.

Software engineering is a team sport. You will interview users to gather requirements, sketch the UI/UX, plan the architecture, write clean code your teammates can review, automate the tests, and deploy on time. You practice all of it in team courses and a product project long before your internship.

Along the way, you put modern tools to work, including AI for gathering requirements, automating tests, and tuning complex systems. You also learn the engineering standards that keep people in charge of what gets built and responsible for how it works.

Where It Can Lead

Careers in Software

Every industry runs on software, from hospitals to banks to car makers, and every one of them needs engineers.

Builds the apps and services people use every day
Software Engineer
Builds both the parts of a website you see and the systems behind it
Full Stack Engineer
Writes the code inside cars, medical equipment, and smart devices
Firmware Engineer
Builds automatic tests that catch problems before customers do
Automation Engineer
Decides how the big pieces of a system fit together
Software Architect

Average Salary after Graduation

Starting
$74,476
5 years
$113,931

Reported average earnings for BYU-Idaho Software Engineering graduates, as published on the Software Engineering major page. Starting salary means earnings in the first year after graduation. Earnings vary and are not a guarantee.

Already a Student?

Switching, Transferring, or Coming Back? Start Here.

Plenty of great engineers found computing a little later. Here is how to jump in without losing momentum.

  1. Try the First Course

    Take CSE 110 Introduction to Programming. It is the first course in both majors and the fastest way to find out if you love this. Already programming? Test out with the LUC placement test and start in CSE 111.

  2. Talk with an Advisor

    An advisor can show how your current credits fit and map out your semesters. Meet with Academic Advising.

  3. Transferring Credit?

    See how courses from another school may count with the course transfer tool. Official evaluation decides what applies.

  4. Coming Back after Time Away?

    Whether you served a mission, worked, or cared for family, there is a path back. Former student admission.

Current students can also use the Student Hub for tools built for BYU-Idaho students. Questions about computing? Contact the CSE Advising Office at STEMadvising@byui.edu or 208-496-9880.

Your Next Step

Ready to Build Something People Use?

Apply to BYU-Idaho and write your first program in your very first semester.

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Questions? Ask BYU-Idaho AI about majors, admissions, and campus life.