CS vs Computer Engineering???

Connor2kwik · January 2021

I just wanted to ask does a computer engineering degree opens more doors for employment than a CS degree or is it about the same?

yoba222 · January 2021

The college giving the degree is likely the only one who cares about the distinction.

UnixGuy · February 2021

I can speak about this as my undergrad was in Computer Engineering.

So depending on the university (there are no standards unfortunately) but a Computer Engineering degree should have a solid foundational courses in Electrical Engineering (they're tough btw) and then courses about Hardware design, VLSI, Micro processor programming, Computer Architecutre

PLUS a ton of courses on programming.

Again this is all depends on the university but my uni the computer engineering was 5 years long while the computer science was 4 years, and in the CE degree we pretty much did most if not all the programming stuff that CS did.

Now, in terms of employment, in CE you can do pretty much do what CS do (so anything computer programming related). The doors that CE open that are not available to CS are:

- Hardware design (think a job in Intel working on micro processors) or embedded software or some hardware work in Telcos

- Research programs, so basically doing a PhD in computer engineering specialising in one of those areas.

Now be mindful that you may still be able to do the above with a CS degree, so it's a program dependent.

In hindsight, I wouldn't have bothered with computer engineering. CS is find and good enough for what I wanted to do, but when I was in undergrad I wanted to do a PhD so the CE was suitable (I later changed my mind).

whatever degree you choose, try and choose the BEST program available to you. It doesn't necessarily mean the highest ranked program, it means the program with the best CS/CE faculty that's practical for you to attend. That's more important than whether you do CS vs CE.

E.g, a CS degree in Standford is so much better than a CE degree in Virginia Tech (just an example but you get the idea) but a CS/CE degree in Virginia Tech (on campus) is much better than any Online degree out there.

Good luck!

raleighbluetech · February 2021

I have friends in the programming world and for them the degree didn't matter so much. I would look through the curriculum and see which gives you the experience you'll want. Either way, it's best to always have a side project you're working on while working through your degree.

For example, my buddy has bachelor's in economics, because of his programming projects, he makes $180k+ as a software engineer.

Skills will matter more than degrees. This is why reviewing the curriculum for skills you want makes the most sense.

UnixGuy · February 2021

Connor2kwik said:

Does a CS degree from Western Governors holds some merit since its regionally accredited despite it being a online school?

yes

JDMurray · February 2021

And don't forget about considering the mathematics requirements of CS and CE degrees. There are many a good software developer that can't hack advanced math but still make a good living at programming.

CS vs Computer Engineering???

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