It can be a challenge picking a university. Whether it’s Balamb Garden, the College of Winterhold, or the Academy at Raya Lucaria, prospective students in videogames these days are spoiled for choice (just mind the ghosts and evil sorcerers). And while we, as lowly meat-based lifeforms, can’t attend these prestigious institutions, we can certainly go to school to learn how to design and create them. If you’re looking to pursue a career in game design, or are just curious about how it works, we’ve got you covered.
Every year, the Princeton Review ranks the 50 best undergraduate and 25 best graduate programs for videogame design. Rated on a thorough set of criteria from graduate employment percentage to facilities and faculty quality, these rankings are an excellent starting point for students to figure out the next step toward their dream career.
We’ve also included some thought-provoking ‘homework’ projects to get your game design brain working, based on real challenges that designers face. We also take a look at how narrative design is used to weave the complex stories of today’s games with their systems, and how user interface design is used to let players seamlessly interact with game worlds.
Want to know more? Check out The Princeton Review’s website for further information on game design programs: princetonreview.com/game-design
UNDERGRADUATE RANKINGS
1. New York University
2022 Grads Hired: 72%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $67,500
Faculty: Eric Zimmerman (founder, GameLab), Mitu Khandaker (CEO, Glow Up Games)
Graduates: Robert Meyer (God of War: Ragnarok), Noelle Mazurek (Diablo IV)
2. University of Southern California
2022 Grads Hired: 90%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $65,000
Faculty: Ed Zobrist (Epic Games), Marianne Krawcyzk (God of War)
Graduates: Jenova Chen (Journey), Jeff Kaplan (former VP, Blizzard)
3. Rochester Institute of Technology
2022 Grads Hired: 85%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $83,904
Faculty: David Schwartz, Flip Philips
Graduates: Steven Van Slyke (co-inventor, OLED), Anna Sweet (CEO, Bad Robot Games)
4. Clark University
2022 Grads Hired: 65%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $65,600
Faculty: Jonathan Rudder (Lord of the Rings Online), Ezra Cove (Dungeons and Dragons Online)
Graduates: Katelyn Anthony (QA lead, Riot), William Parker (Wizards of the Coast)
5. DigiPen Institute of Technology
2022 Grads Hired: 57%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $86,865
Faculty: Ellen Guon Beeman (EA, Microsoft, founder: Women in Games International), Claude Comair (co-founder, Nintendo Software Technology)
Graduates: Kim Swift (Xbox Game Studios), Adam Brennecke (Obsidian Entertainment)
6. University of Central Florida
2022 Grads Hired: 79%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $52,036
Faculty: John Murray, Maria Harrington
Graduates: Richard Ugarte (Epic Games), Alexia Mandeville (Niantic)
7. University of Utah
2022 Grads Hired: 58%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $78,923
Faculty: Joe Barnes (Disney and Epic Games), Roger Altizer (Games Lab)
Graduates: Doug Bowser (president, Nintendo of America), Nolan Bushnell (founder, Atari)
8. Vancouver Film School
2022 Grads Hired: 46%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $65,000
Faculty: Glen Hamilton (EA), Jeff Plamondon (Capcom Vancouver)
Graduates: Boris Wong (Riot), Armando Troisi (NetEase Games)
9. Michigan State University
2022 Grads Hired: 78%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $58,000
Faculty: Jeremy Gibson Bond (Maxis, Disney), Ricardo Guimaraes (Blizzard)
Graduates: Brian Murray (creative director, EA), Chris Bray (Bethesda)
10. Drexel University
2022 Grads Hired: 60%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $44,500
Faculty: Tony Rowe (LucasArts), Paul Diefenbach (OpenWorlds)
Graduates: Glen Winters (Red Dead Redemption 2), Greg Lebanov (Wandersong, Chicory)
11. Breda University of Applied Sciences
2022 Grads Hired: 81%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $43,500
Faculty: David Wessman (Saints Row, X-Wing series), Mata Haggis (Resident Evil, Dying Light)
Graduates: Jim Hendriks (Ubisoft), Nathalie Jankie (Remedy Entertainment)
12. Bradley University
2022 Grads Hired: 73%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $45,347
Faculty: Aaron Villarreal (Arkane, Blizzard), Ryan McCabe (Insomniac)
Graduates: Renae Radford (cinematics lead, Blizzard), Austin Holt (Amazon Games)
13. Champlain College
2022 Grads Hired: 67%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $47,000
Faculty: Jessie Hough (Riot), Nathan Walpole (Halo 2-4, Elder Scrolls Online)
Graduates: Alex Martens (Rockstar), Lucas Annunziata (Overwatch 2)
14. Worcester Polytechnic Institute
2022 Grads Hired: 70%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $82,000
Faculty: Brian Moriarty (Infocom Games, founding member of GDC), Keith Zizza (Bioshock Infinite)
Graduates: Michael Gesner (Riot), Jon Radoff (Beamable)
15. Shawnee State University
2022 Grads Hired: 31%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $64,875
Faculty: Bastien Lecouffe-Deharme, Greg Lyons
Graduates: Dan Clark (creative director, Epic Games), Derek Lewis (Insomniac)
16. Savannah College of Art and Design
2022 Grads Hired: 41%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $55,504
Faculty: Jack Mamais (Far Cry, Crysis), Cyril Guichard
Graduates: Harrison Pink (Diablo IV), Matt Ward (Gearbox)
17. Full Sail University
2022 Grads Hired: 63%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $59,000
Faculty: Patrick Kelly (Namco, LucasArts), Miguel Molinari (Arkadium)
Graduates: Jason Citron (creator & CEO, Discord), Kerry Allen (id Software)
18. Quinnipiac University
2022 Grads Hired: 40%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $65,000
Faculty: Jonah Warren, Elena Bertozzi
Graduates: Donovan Sepulveda (Riot), Shawn Urban (F84)
19. The University of Texas at Dallas
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $47,000
Faculty: Nelson Lim (Lucasfilm), Bryon Caldwell (Industrial Light & Magic)
Graduates: Matt Charles (Gearbox)
20. University of Silicon Valley
2022 Grads Hired: 16%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $62,000
Faculty: Evan Skolnick (Cuphead, Dying Light, Star Wars: Battlefront), Ricardo Kayanan (Cars, Ratatouille, Transformers 2)
Graduates: I-Wei Huang (Skylanders), Rosie Wrede (Call of Duty: Vanguard)
21. La Salle College Vancouver
2022 Grads Hired: 100%
Faculty: Peter Chan (Relic)
Graduates: David Larmour (Dawn of War 3), Greg Findlay (Rise of the Tomb Raider, Thief)
22. Laguna College of Art + Design
2022 Grads Hired: 91%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $50,000
Faculty: Javier Perez (PlayStation Studios), Donald Ott (Amazon Games)
Graduates: Sarah Jaques (art director, Nickelodeon Animation), Bobby Hernandez (Insomniac Games)
23. Abertay University
2022 Grads Hired: 40%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $45,000
Faculty: Joseph deLappe, Ruth Falconer
Graduates: David Jones (creator of Lemmings, Grand Theft Auto), Timea Tabori (Rockstar)
24. Falmouth University
2022 Grads Hired: 57%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $47,505
Faculty: Tanya Krzywinska, Minhua Eunice Ma
Graduates: Sophie Shepherd (Respawn), James Collins (Firesprite Games)
25. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
2022 Grads Hired: 15%
2022 Grads Mean Salary: $73,200
Faculty: Maurice Suckling (Civ 6, Fortnite)
Graduates: Curtis Priem (co-founder, NVIDIA), Karthik Bala (CEO, Velan Studios)
