A 2025 national assessment of programming and software engineering skills places San José State just behind MIT, a jump credited by students and officials to a mix of rigorous coursework, hands-on campus clubs, and research and industry pathways near Silicon V
By the time Shinika Balasundar graduated from San José State in December with a computer engineering degree, her résumé already carried internships with three of the nation’s top electric car companies—and it led to a full-time position at a major global electronics manufacturer.
Balasundar said she built the skills that made those internships possible not only through the university’s academic program, but through Spartan Racing and the nationally acclaimed Formula One club. In those spaces, she learned how programming connects to hardware.
So when she heard that San José State students ranked only behind the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in a 2025 national assessment of programming and software engineering skills. it didn’t sound surprising to her. Since 2023, Spartan coders have climbed from number 49 out of 50 up to No. 2 on CodeSignal’s annual skills ranking—overtaking universities including CalTech, UC Berkeley, and Stanford, which ranked 17.
“Everything that made me a good engineer today is honestly because of the school and the club together,” said Balasundar, who recently started San José State’s computer engineering master’s program. “The high ranking was very much justified.”
What’s being tested isn’t vague talent. CodeSignal’s assessments for computer science and technical skills include either three or four problems and take 60 to 90 minutes to complete. The tests are web-based and mandated by employers interviewing candidates for software engineers, product managers, or data scientists.
Tigran Sloyan, CEO of CodeSignal, said San José State’s ranking isn’t explained just by its closeness to Silicon Valley. The campus, he said, has developed programs that are “closer to what companies look for beyond the resume” and the skills that employers care about.
San José State officials and faculty frame the results as part of a broader shift in how computer science education is taking shape. As artificial intelligence accelerates and forces universities to rethink how coding fundamentals should be taught. they argue that the answer is not to abandon basics—but to build them into a path that keeps students working with real systems.
“While AI is ever-present and useful for computer science students,” programs at San José State are rooted in computing fundamentals, said Jorjeta Jetcheva, chair of the computer engineering department.
“We want students to be successful. not just now. not just when they’re graduating. but for many years to come. ” Jetcheva said. “We need to have more experts in the future. not fewer. to test. validate and understand what the code is doing.” Jetcheva earned her Ph.D. in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University.
Most computer science education. the university notes. takes place in two departments—computer engineering and computer science—as well as in San José State’s new College of Information. Data and Society. But the training has spread beyond those boundaries. San José State offers degrees in computational linguistics and artificial intelligence. embeds computational skills in its chemistry and business programs. and will launch undergraduate computer science degrees in biology and geology this fall.
This expansion is happening even as the number of applications to study computer science declined by 13% in 2026. following a national trend. At the same time, students are shifting toward specialization. For example. the number of applicants for the computer science and linguistics bachelor’s program has more than doubled since 2024. from 61 to 131.
Vincent Del Casino. provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. said. “The landscape of higher education around computer science is differentiating.” He added that there may be a decline in computer science. but other areas are picking up and “all of them rely at some level on computer science education.”.
Del Casino said San José State has steadily invested in hiring faculty, including people from industry and academia. Last year, San José State was second in the California State University system in hiring tenure-track faculty, and some of those hires also have industry experience.
“We’ve always been one of the major suppliers locally for tech talent. ” said Chris Pollett. a San José State professor of computer science. who has taught computer science there for almost 15 years. In his view, the high ranking is a signal that word has spread about the university’s programming quality.
“A lot of people come to San José State specifically because they want to get a job in Silicon Valley. Once they’re here, they’re with a lot of like-minded people and they’re very motivated,” Pollett said.
Jetcheva said many students at San José State juggle school with work or family responsibilities, which, she said, “makes all of their accomplishments even more impressive.”
“I came to San José State with a very strong and concrete intention of supporting students,” she said. “A lot of my focus has been on applying for grants that directly benefit the students and remove barriers, such as income or lack thereof, from the challenges that they face.”
For Meghana Indukuri, the path looked like research before graduation. Indukuri. who will graduate this month with a bachelor’s in software engineering. worked on two paid National Science Foundation research projects—one in robotics and another on deep learning and protein design. Indukuri said some students use the university’s proximity to high-tech businesses to do internships while they’re in school. but that doing research is another route to specialized experience.
“They are two pathways to the same skill sets,” said Indukuri, who will begin a computer science master’s program at UCLA in the fall. “I’m developing software that other people can use, and so is industry.”
Students point to the chance to test what they learn in competitions and projects. The SJSU Robotics club is building a new Mars rover for next year’s national University Rover Challenge. The competitive programming club TEA Time recently advanced to the national finals of the International Collegiate Programming Contest. Spartan Racing produced a Formula One car that placed first for endurance and second overall in a national competition last year.
Balasundar said she knew she wanted to join the Formula One club before accepting a spot at San José State. As a member, she wanted to create code that would allow adjustments while the car was moving. So she created a telemetry system that uses radio.
“Every single thing I was learning in class had a direct application on the vehicle,” Balasundar said. “It may be directly correlated or was adjacent, but I could see the value add of going through the main curriculum that the school provided and how it actually plays into an engineering aspect.”
Even as the national conversation about AI and coding tightens, San José State’s messaging is steady: combine academic rigor, research jobs, exposure to nearby industry, and campus clubs—and give students a way to practice.
Officials say students can pursue that path for just under $9,000 a year in in-state tuition and fees.
San José State MIT CodeSignal programming skills software engineering computer engineering Formula One club Spartan Racing TEA Time SJSU Robotics artificial intelligence education National Science Foundation research Silicon Valley internships
MIT at #1?? sounds made up tbh.
So they’re saying a coding club and racing thing made them better programmers? I mean I guess, but the article says electric car internships like that’s the same as coding skills lol. Congrats to the students though.
I don’t buy it completely. CodeSignal rankings, that’s just test scores right? Like if you’re good at one website you’re instantly #2 in the country? Also Spartan Racing sounds like they’re literally teaching you to code while doing obstacles which… idk.
This is cool but I’m confused why they keep mentioning electric car companies like that’s proof. She graduated Dec and already had internships with three top car companies… okay but who’s hiring who in what order? Seems like the “hands-on clubs” did the trick, but also Silicon Valley is right there so of course they’d have connections. Still, going from 49 to 2 on a ranking is wild if it’s real.