Whether you're curious about a career in game development or honing your skills, there is a perfect game design program for you. Read up on the 50 best undergraduate and 25 best graduate programs for gaming, as chosen by The Princeton Review.
Higher education is one of the bigger choices you'll ever make in life, and finding your path is not as simple as choosing an RPG class. When it comes to a career in game design, every journey starts at the same place: picking the right university. Let this be your first stop.
The list spans the best of the best programs in the country, so no matter where you land, you'll be one stop closer to your dream career. To get you into the mindset of a game designer, we've also included homework projects that explore common challenges faced by developers today, as well as a discussion on the role of AI programmers and map designers in game development.
Article continues belowWant to know more? Check out The Princeton Review's website for further info: www.princetonreview.com/game-design
UNDERGRADUATE RANKINGS
1. New York University
2025 Grads Hired: 53%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $84,800
Faculty: Eric Zimmerman (Gamelab), Dr. Mitu Khandaker (Spirit AI)
Graduates: Jenny Jiao-Hsia (IGF), Carol Mertz (Exploding Kittens)
2. University of Southern California
2025 Grads Hired: 63%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $107,400
Faculty: TreaAndrea Russworm (Author, "Gaming Representation"), Mark Bolas (Founder, Fakespace Labs)
Graduates: Jenova Chen (Thatgamecompany), Brent Strong (Disney)
3. University of Central Florida
2025 Grads Hired: 36%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $48,500
Faculty: Dr. Peter Smith, Dr. John Murray
Graduates: Richard Ugarte (Epic), Alexia Mandeville (Niantic)
4. Rochester Institute of Technology
2025 Grads Hired: 88%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $77,000
Faculty: David I. Schwartz, Flip Philips
Graduates: Elan Lee (Exploding Kittens), Steven Van Slyke (co-inventor of OLED)
5. Abertay University
2025 Grads Hired: 44%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $41,000
Faculty: Fraser Simpson (YoYo Games), Ruth Falconer (Women in Games)
Graduates: Zoe Sams (Riot), David Hynd (Rockstar)
6. DigiPen Institute of Technology
2025 Grads Hired: 62%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $96,096
Faculty: Claude Comair (Nintendo), Ellen Guon Beeman (EA, Microsoft)
Graduates: Kim Swift (Portal), Alex Williams (Studio Wildcard)
7. Clark University
2025 Grads Hired: 68%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $69,000
Faculty: Ezra Cove (Lord of the Rings Online, Turbine), Amanda Theinert
Graduates: Gary Goldberg (Fable Vision Studios), Stanley Pierre-Louis (ESA)
8. University of Utah
2025 Grads Hired: 36%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $71,113
Faculty: Michael Young PhD, Jose Zagal PhD (Game Studies)
Graduates: Doug Bowser (former COO of Nintendo), Nolan Bushnell (founder of Atari)
9. Savannah College of Art and Design
2025 Grads Hired: 34%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $62,500
Faculty: Nye Warburton, Cyril Guichard (Electrotank)
Graduates: Chad Dezem (Insomniac), Harrison Pink (Blizzard)
10. Michigan State University
2025 Grads Hired: 53%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $62,000
Faculty: Brian Winn (Will Winn Games), Ricardo Guimaraes (Blizzard, Ubisoft)
Graduates: Brian Murray (EA), Steven Messinger (Rockstar)
11. Champlain College
2025 Grads Hired: 78%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $50,226
Faculty: Jessie Leigh Gagnon (Riot Games, Phoenix Labs), Jason Della Rocca (Execution Labs)
Graduates: Heather Conover (Riot), Alex Martens (Rockstar)
12. Drexel University
2025 Grads Hired: 43%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $42,857
Faculty: Dr. Paul Diefenbach (OpenWorlds Inc.), Dr. Frank Lee
Graduates: Girish Balakrishnan (Netflix), Greg Lebanov (Chicory, Wandersong)
13. Worcester Polytechnic Institute
2025 Grads Hired: 50%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $82,000
Faculty: Ben Schneider (Standing Stone, Turbine), Ralph Sutter
Graduates: Michael Gesner (Riot), Jon Radoff (Beamable)
14. Northeastern University
2025 Grads Hired: 20%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $80,000
Faculty: Christopher Barney, Celia Pearce (IndieCade)
Graduates: Devin Yang (Owlchemy Labs), Ryan Maloney (Blizzard)
15. Purdue University
2025 Grads Hired: 68%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $67,066
Faculty: Robert Howard, Jeffery Kesselman
Graduates: Jeff Hanna (Volition), Keith Self-Ballard (PlayStation)
16. Falmouth University
2025 Grads Hired: 56%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $28,311
Faculty: Tanya Krzwinska, William Huber
Graduates: Rex Crowle (Media Molecule), Sophie Shepherd (Respawn)
17. Shawnee State University
2025 Grads Hired: 25%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $73,500
Faculty: Bastien Lecouffe-Deharme, Greg Lyons
Graduates: Dan Clark (Epic), Derek Lewis (Insomniac)
18. University of Florida
2025 Grads Hired: 33%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $99,000
Faculty: Dr. James Oliverio, Dr. Hyo Jeong Kang
Graduates: Jesse Rapczak (Studio Wildcard), Joshua Jayaheri (Raven Software)
19. Full Sail University
2025 Grads Hired: 10%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $62,109
Faculty: Patrick Kelly, Miguel De La Cruz
Graduates: Alejandro Garcia-Tunon, Elbert Perez (Unity)
20. Vancouver Film School
2025 Grads Hired: 11%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $65,000
Faculty: Mike Wuetherick (Unity, Cloudhead Games), Joe Bonar (Unity)
Graduates: Armando Troisi (MY.GAMES, Ubisoft), Jack Kelly (New World Interactive)
21. Quinnipiac University
2025 Grads Hired: 60%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: NR
Faculty: Roger Clark (Rockstar), Elena Bertozzi
Graduates: Donovan Sepulveda (Riot), Zaria Brogdon (Rockstar)
22. New England Institute of Technology
2025 Grads Hired: 24%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $50,000
Faculty: William Culbertson (Hasbro), Jordan Dubreuil
Graduates: Daniel Laba (Blizzard), Daniel Cuccia (Sony)
23. Bradley University
2025 Grads Hired: 15%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $45,000
Faculty: David Abzug (Deep Silver), Ray Hazlip (Deep Silver)
Graduates: Diana Hughes, Joseph Lax (Sony Santa Monica)
24. Miami University
2025 Grads Hired: 56%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: $56,690
Faculty: Geoffrey Long PhD (Microsoft, Disney), Ben Nicholson
Graduates: Ellie Helbling (Naughty Dog), Brian Beebe (Riot)
25. DePaul University
2025 Grads Hired: 77%
2025 Grads Mean Salary: NR
Faculty: Ed Keenan (Midway), Allen Turner (Disney)
Graduates: Kevin Geisler (Young Horses), Mark Nauta (Firaxis)
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