GRADUATE RANKINGS
1. University of Central Florida (#1 South)
2023 Grads Hired: 85
2023 Grads Mean Salary: $80,539
Faculty: Nick Zuccarello (Sony), Jonathan Annand (Disney)
Graduates: Carlos Barbosa (WB Games), Brian DeSanti (Blizzard)
https://fiea.ucf.edu/industry/alumni-games/
2. New York University (#1 Northeast)
2023 Grads Hired: 51
2023 Grads Mean Salary: $73,003
Faculty: Dr. Mitu Khandaker (Glow Up Games), Shawn Pierre (Philly Game Mechanics, Independent Games Festival)
Graduates: Atlas Chen (thatgamecompany, Echostone), Noelle Mazurek (Diablo IV)
https://gamecenter.nyu.edu/
3. University of Southern California (#1 West)
2023 Grads Hired: 90
2023 Grads Mean Salary: $85,000
Faculty: Mark Bolas (Fakespace Labs, Microsoft), Danny Bilson (The Rocketeer, The Flash, Da 5 Bloods, The Sims, Homefront)
Graduates: Laird Malamed (Oculus VR), Brandon Beck (Riot Games)
https://catalogue.usc.edu/content.php
4. University of Utah (#2 West)
2023 Grads Hired: 88
2023 Grads Mean Salary: $96,785
Faculty: Joe Barnes (Disney, Epic Games), Michael Young, PhD (AI for Games)
Graduates: Doug Bowser (Nintendo America), Nolan Bushnell (Founder of Atari)
https://games.utah.edu/current-students/meae/
5. Southern Methodist University (#1 Southwest)
2023 Grads Hired: 68
2023 Grads Mean Salary: $76,500
Faculty: Elizabeth Stringer, PhD (Atari, Activision, Xatrix), Myque Ouellette, MSCS (Origin Systems, Retro Studios, Atari)
Graduates: Chris Schmidt (Infinity Ward), Grace Liu (Netflix Games)
https://www.smu.edu/Guildhall/About
6. Abertay University (#1 International)
2023 Grads Hired: 75
2023 Grads Mean Salary: $59,000
Faculty: Dr. Kenneth Fee (DMA Design), Martyn Lynagh (Media Molecule, Axis Animation, I-Play)
Graduates: Richard Jolly (Splash Damage), David Hynd (Rockstar Games)
https://www.abertay.ac.uk/news/2023/network-of-movie-magic-labs-to-keep-uk-on-cutting-edge-of-future-visual-effects-technologies/
7. Clark University (#2 Northeast)
2023 Grads Hired: 72
2023 Grads Mean Salary: $70,000
Faculty: Ezra Cove (Lord of the Rings), Amanda Theinert (Digital art, Design, Game Psychology)
Graduates: Gary Goldberg (Fablevision), Matthew Sylvia (Microsoft)
https://www.clarku.edu/academics/graduate/programs/masters/master-of-fine-arts-in-interactive-media/
8. Rochester Institute of Technology (#3 Northeast)
2023 Grads Hired: 83
2023 Grads Mean Salary: $103,300
Faculty: Shaun Foster (4D Productions), Flip Philips (Professor of Psychology, Skidmore College)
Graduates: Steven Van Slyke (Co-inventor of the OLED), Anna Sweet (Bad Robot Games)
https://www.rit.edu/computing/school-interactive-games-and-media
9. Northeastern University (#4 Northeast)
2023 Grads Hired: 84
2023 Grads Mean Salary: $80,000
Faculty: Celia Pearce (IndieCade), Christopher Barney (GDC speaker, Poptropica)
Graduates: Kyros Jalife (Warner Bros), Wendi Zhang (Activision Blizzard)
https://camd.northeastern.edu/program/game-science-and-design-ms/
10. Drexel University (#1 Mid-Atlantic)
2023 Grads Hired: 90
2023 Grads Mean Salary: $74,000
Faculty: Dr. Paul Diefenbach (Founder of OpenWorlds Inc.), Dr. Youngmoo Kim (PhD from MIT, Drexel's ExCITe Center)
Graduates: Anna Nguyen (Schell Games, Injustice 2), Glen Winters (Rockstar Games)
http://drexel.edu/westphal/graduate/DIGM/
11. Michigan State University (#1 Midwest)
2023 Grads Hired: 63
2023 Grads Mean Salary: $60,000
Faculty: Ryan Thompson (intersections between gameplay and audio), Wei Peng (games, design, UX design, usability, and health applications)
Graduates: Brian Murray (Electronic Arts), Geoff Johns (Mad Ghost Productions, DC Entertainment)
https://gamedev.msu.edu/graduate-serious-games-certificate/
12. DigiPen Institute of Technology (#3 West)
2023 Grads Hired: 56
2023 Grads Mean Salary: $105,000
Faculty: Mark Henne (Pixar, worked on 6 Academy Award-winning films), Brian Schmidt (Founding member GameSoundCon & Game Audio Network Guild)
Graduates: Luis Villegas (Bungie, Destiny), Taralyn von der Linden (Trixter, Walt Disney)
https://www.digipen.edu/academics/digital-art-and-animation-degrees/mfa-in-digital-arts
13. The University of Texas at Dallas (#2 Southwest)
2023 Grads Hired: 20
2023 Grads Mean Salary: $98,950
Faculty: Bryon Caldwell (Brazen, Riot Games, Industrial Light Magic, Agora Studio, Cloud 10 Studios), Troy Griffin (Walt Disney Studios, Reel FX, Encanto, Raya & Last Dragon, Frozen II, Moana, Frozen)
Graduates: Dr. David Hanson (Hanson Robotics), Steven Billingslea (900lbs of Creative)
https://bass.utdallas.edu/degrees/graduate-degrees/game-development-graduate-programs/
14. Falmouth University (#2 International)
2023 Grads Hired: 80
2023 Grads Mean Salary: $47,204
Faculty: Professor Tanya Krzywinska (Game studies, digital economy), Terry Greer (Microprose, Blitz Games)
Graduates: Rebecca Haigh (Playground Games), Sophie Shepherd (Respawn Entertainment)
https://www.falmouth.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/games-and-computing-masters-degrees
15. Savannah College of Art and Design (#2 South)
2023 Grads Hired: 77
2023 Grads Mean Salary: $61,333
Faculty: Nye Warburton (AI in games, Generative Media, Character Systems), Cyril Guichard (game design, gamification, VR game development)
Graduates: Lucas Slominski (Zenimax), Whitney Taylor (YouTube)
https://www.scad.edu/academics/programs/interactive-design-and-game-development/degrees/ma
16. Worcester Polytechnic Institute (#5 Northeast)
2023 Grads Hired: 77
2023 Grads Mean Salary: $82,000
Faculty: Ben Schneider (Narrative design), Ed Gutierrez (Disney/Pixar)
Graduates: Michael Gesner (Riot Games), Jon Radoff (Beamable, gamerDNA)
https://www.wpi.edu/academics/departments/interactive-media-game-development/graduate
17. Full Sail University (#3 South)
2023 Grads Hired: 29
2023 Grads Mean Salary: $60,475
Faculty: Dr. Shawn Stafford (Wargaming, UX Science), Dr. Robert Kennedy (Organizational Psychologist & Ergonomics Consultant)
Graduates: Narie Kay (Zynga), Erin Eberhart (Dreamhaven)
https://www.fullsail.edu/degrees/game-design-master
18. Laguna College of Art and Design (#4 West)
2023 Grads Hired: 100
2023 Grads Mean Salary: $82,000
Faculty: Stefano Gualeni PhD (Game Design Philosophy), Chris Ulm (Velan Studios)
Graduates: Ben Thompson (Moonshot Games), Nicole Tan (Blizzard Entertainment, Crystal Dynamics)
https://www.lcad.edu/courses/game-design-mfa/
19. University of Wisconsin–Stout (#2 Midwest)
2023 Grads Hired: 20
2023 Grads Mean Salary: $42,100
Faculty: Karl Koehle (Forensic & Litigation Animator), Dave Beck (Sculpture, Digital Arts & Sciences)
Graduates: Hue Vang (Dreamworks Animation), Andrew Murphy (Apple)
https://www.uwstout.edu/programs/mfa-design
20. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (#6 Northeast)
2023 Grads Hired: 50
2023 Grads Mean Salary: $80,539
Faculty: Maurice Suckling (BAFTA award-winning game writer), Rob Hamilton (Musical game innovator)
Graduates: Zach Barth (Opus Magnum, Eliza), Curtis R. Priem (Co-Founder, NVIDIA)
https://hass.rpi.edu/gsas/critical-game-design-co-terminal-program-0
