BA/BS in Software Engineering is a bachelor's degree in Software Engineering programme taught at University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Canada. The programme runs for 5 years, delivered on campus. Tuition for international students is CAD 34,942 per semester (CAD 7,124 per semester for local students).
Software Engineering at the University of Waterloo leads to a Bachelor of Software Engineering, delivered jointly by the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Mathematics at the undergraduate level, and is offered only as a co-op program. Coursework covers programming principles and data abstraction, linear algebra and calculus, digital logic and circuits, algorithms and data structures, operating systems and databases, software design and architecture, software testing and quality assurance, human-computer interaction, and project management for team-based development. Students may pursue specializations in Artificial Intelligence, Business, Computational Fine Art, or Human-Computer Interaction, and can add a Combinatorics and Optimization minor. Co-op work terms alternate with study terms, with the first placement in the spring following first year, and the program is delivered on the Waterloo campus. It suits students who want to design software systems, build user-facing or AI-driven technology, and apply engineering methods to solutions across sectors such as financial services, technology firms, and startups, with programming experience recommended before admission.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Direct entry from Ontario high school. Required: six Grade 12 U/M courses including Advanced Functions, Calculus and Vectors, Chemistry, Physics and English (ENG4U), each with a minimum final grade of 70%, plus experience in a programming course or equivalent self-study. Admission to Software Engineering is competitive: individual selection runs from the low to mid-90s. The Admission Information Form (AIF) is required for admission; the Canadian Senior Mathematics Contest or Euclid contest is optional but required for certain scholarships. International and non-Ontario applicants follow the equivalent OUAC route with the program's prerequisite subjects. Applicants whose secondary education was not in Canada or in English follow the same OUAC route and must meet Waterloo's institution-wide English proficiency requirement: IELTS Academic 6.5 overall (6.0 minimum band, 6.5 in writing and speaking), TOEFL iBT 4.5 overall with 5 in writing and speaking for tests from 21 January 2026 onward (90 overall with 25 in writing and speaking for earlier tests), PTE Academic 63 (65 in writing and speaking), or Duolingo 120 (125 in Literacy and Production).
Application Details
Start Date:September
Application Deadline:Waterloo admits first-year students for September entry only, through the OUAC, with identical deadlines for domestic and international applicants. For Fall 2027, most programmes must be applied to by 1 February 2027 with documents due 15 February 2027; Engineering programmes (excluding Architecture) close earlier, on 15 January 2027, with documents due 1 February 2027, and require an online interview. Waterloo states a deadline may be extended if a programme is not yet full, but publishes no separate rolling-admission date and no explicit application-opening date. Pharmacy is a named exception with its own earlier deadline; Social Work and the Conditional Admission to Pharmacy stream are directed to programme-specific timelines outside this page. These are institution-wide dates; this programme publishes no deadline of its own.
