The gaming industry has grown to become a multibillion-dollar global industry with new technologies and engaging content revolutionizing entertainment. With such a high demand for skilled game developers and new talents, artists and programmers are keen to get the best education to enable them to make a career out of it. In this article, we will look at the top 10 game development colleges that will prepare you for this gaming industry with the expertise, creativity and technical know-how. Also worthy of mention are their rankings of the Princeton Review’s 50 Undergraduate Game Design Degrees in no particular order.
Top 10 Game Development Colleges to Study in 2024
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Rochester Institute of Technology
Location: Rochester, New York
Accreditation: Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)
Tuition: $59,274
Ranking: 6th
According to The Princeton Review, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) has an outstanding game design and development program, ranking 6th among the top 50 undergraduate degree programs in game design. RIT is based in Rochester, New York, and provides a demanding curriculum that focuses on technical knowledge, which puts RIT graduates in high demand among successful game studios and IT companies. This program’s attendees are introduced to the general concepts of game design, such as gameplay, prototyping and more.
Some of the offerings in the curriculum are Game Development Process, Gameplay and Prototyping, Colloquium in Game Design and Development, Game Design, and Game Industry Themes and Perspectives. Electives in advanced levels allow students to acquire more skills in areas such as machine learning, video game graphic programming, and console development. For instance, students can pursue elective courses such as Artificial Intelligence for Gameplay, Game Graphics Programming, Game Design & Development for Casual & Mobile Platforms, and Board & Card Game Design & Development, among others.
RIT boasts a co-op program that ranks it nationally and offers internships and co-op opportunities to its students. This practical training prepares students for employment and helps graduates to stand out in the labor market. The co-op program aims to give students early and frequent industry exposure during their studies. As most programs incorporate co-ops and internships, the students put their skills and knowledge to practice in practical, real-life environments. Outside lectures, RIT cultivates innovation through more than 300 research labs, centers and institutes.
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University of Southern California
Location: Los Angeles, California
Acceptance Rate: 10%
Accreditation: WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC)
Tuition: $41,700
Ranking: 2nd
University of Southern California (USC) is one of the best game design colleges in the United States and has been ranked as the second best game design college by The Princeton Review. USC’s game design and development program is in the middle of Los Angeles and is a great opportunity for students to get an interdisciplinary and innovative education. USC has a rigorous and inclusive program where diverse students come to collaborate on creative games and interactive media and develop mastery in every facet of game design and production.
Some of the faculty members include practicing professionals in the program, which ensures one is exposed to various real-life scenarios. Students can choose from multiple degree options, such as undergraduate and graduate programs, which include Interaction Entertainment BA, Game Development and Interactive Design BFA, Computer Science BS (Games), and Cinematic Art (Media Art, Games, and Health) MA. Moreover, USC Games offers minors in Game Design, Game Animation, Game Audio, Game Entrepreneurism, and Video Game Programming, which give students a basic understanding of game design and its creation process.
USC graduates in game design have high employment rates; most of them create and sell their own games, start their own studios, or work for big firms like Disney, CBS Interactive, Riot Games, ESPN, Apple, and Epic Games.
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New York University
Location: New York
Acceptance Rate: 12%
Accreditation: Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)
Tuition: $29,499
Ranking: 1st
Being situated in the middle of New York City, New York University or NYU is an ideal place for learning and innovation in the field of game development. The NYU Game Center is in the elite Tisch School of the Arts, where a solid and diverse educational curriculum for video game design is available to undergraduates and graduates. This focuses on all levels of video game design and is more practical, with an emphasis on teamwork. Students can earn a BFA or MFA in Game Design, in addition to the option to direct projects individually or in teams. The program finishes with a thesis that needs to be defended at the NYU Game Center Spring Show.
Graduates of NYU Game Center are ready to thrive in the context of the game industry and have become game artists, designers, software publishers, developers, artificial intelligence engineers, programmers, and entrepreneurs. Some of the companies which have hired alumni are Blizzard Entertainment, Riot Games, Amazon, Tencent, Take-Two Interactive, ESPN, Nickelodeon, and Avalanche Studios.
For the benefit of graduating students, NYU has put in place the Game Center Incubator, which offers mentorship, funding, and space for student projects with commercial viability. In addition, NYU Wasserman Career Center and Tisch School of the Arts Office of Career Development provide comprehensive services to prepare students for their creative professions.
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University of Utah
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Acceptance Rate: 87%
Accreditation: Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU).
Tuition: $28,697
Ranking: 4th
The University of Utah is a first-tier university that provides high-quality education and research facilities for its students. Its Entertainment Arts and Engineering (EAE) program is among the best in the world and is research-oriented, focusing on virtual reality and games. Founded more than ten years ago, EAE is an interdisciplinary education with art, computer science, and social science. The EAE program offers various academic options such as Gaming, Computer Science EAE, Entertainment Arts and Engineering MAEE, and MBA/MEAE. Students study ethical issues and other possibilities of game development, along with 30 credit hours of EAE electives and a final project.
The Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with an emphasis in Engineering Applied to the Arts (EAE) prepares students to become video game engineers, whereas the Master of Engineering in Applied Engineering (MEAE) can be pursued with concentrations in Game Design, Game Arts, Game Production, Game Engineering, and Technical Art. Graduates find employment in the areas of game development, simulation, visualization and edutainment.
Being one of the public universities, the University of Utah offers quality solutions to the need for higher learning and health care, hence making social, economic and cultural impacts. With these programs and academic achievement, it can be said that the institution is suitable for students interested in game design and development. The program also has a high ranking and relations to the industry, thus making the University of Utah ideal for the EAE program.
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University of Central Florida
Location: Orlando, Florida
Acceptance Rate: 43%
Accreditation: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)
Tuition: $19,810
Ranking: 5th
The University of Central Florida, or UCF, is a large research institution with more than 69,500 students from every state in the United States and 149 countries. Being one of the most rapidly developing and largest universities in the United States today, UCF provides the population with a great number of educational and scholarly opportunities, complementing the demands of the modern economy. Engineering, business, education, science, film, health, nursing, social sciences, and hospitality management are among the competitive programs that consolidate the university’s focus on innovation.
The Games and Interactive Entertainment programs of the university are situated in the Communication and Media Building, and it contains a well-equipped studio and classroom, including Studio 500 – the largest sound stage and motion capture studio in the eastern part of the United States. Students acquire and share knowledge and work interactively with the application of innovative technologies and design feedback.
Graduates from the Games and Interactive Entertainment programs at UCF are poised to work in designing and creating games as well as being involved in interactivity, visualization, entertainment, etc. Graduates have been placed at more than 300 game development and software companies, such as Epic Games, Rockstar Games, Electronic Arts, Blizzard Entertainment, Nintendo, Apple, Walt Disney Imagineering, and Unity Technologies.
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Savannah College of Art and Design
Location: Savannah, Georgia
Acceptance Rate: 71%
Accreditation: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA), and the National Architecture Accrediting Board (NAAB)
Tuition: $35,190
Ranking: 15th
Savannah College of Arts and Design, commonly known as SCAD, is a well-established Fine Arts college offering strong career-oriented curriculums. SCAD was established in 1979 and currently caters for over 17,500 students in Atlanta, Savannah, Lacoste, and online. Noteworthy, SCAD’s School of Creative Technology specializes in game design and development. Undergraduate offerings include a BA in Digital Media with a Game Development track and a BFA in Interactive Design and Game Development. Graduate options, however, include an MA and MFA in IDGD. One can also study minors such as Concept Design, Game UX and Visual Effects amongst others.
The facilities of the college range from the studio classrooms, stop-motion sets, green-screen stage, and equipped motion-capture and AR/VR laboratories to the SCAD Digital Media Center. Six galleries in Savannah and two in Atlanta offer students exposure to display galleries.
Some companies their graduates have joined are Epic Games, Riot Games, Gearbox Software, Microsoft, Adobe, Apple, Bethesda and Sucker Punch Productions. Also, the faculty members at SCAD are practicing professionals, and they bring enthusiasm to their work. With SCAD, students receive a broad education, modern equipment, contacts with companies, opportunities to network, and practical experience.
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Full Sail University
Location: Winter Park, Florida
Acceptance Rate: 100%
Accreditation: Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC)
Tuition: $35,190
Ranking: 20th
The gaming school at Full Sail University is the best place for learners who are interested in the design and development of games. The school has nine programs offered at all levels of study, such as undergraduate and graduate, certificates, online, and traditional classrooms. This means that facilities look more like actual production studios to ensure students gain experience in actual settings. The programs offered at the Gaming School are 3D Arts, Game Business & Esports, Game Art, Game Development, Simulation & Visualization, Interactive Technology and Game Design. All courses include engaging topics like Motion Capture, Prototyping, Game Mechanics, Data Visualization, Artificial Intelligence, and Game Production Tools.
Students are exposed to all the roles in the production process, simulation, video games, animation, effects, and game narrative. Graduates are well equipped for employment in the games industry, films, animations, advertising, media, simulations and many others.
Notable alumni credits include Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Overwatch 2, Horizon: Zero Dawn 2, Apex Legends, Destiny 2, and Fortnite. More than 350 graduates of Full Sail University received credits for 31 projects nominated for 22 categories at the 2023 Game Awards, proving that the university prepares professionals for the industry.
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DigiPen Institute of Technology
Location: Redmond, Washington
Acceptance Rate: 66%
Accreditation: Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC)
Tuition: $37,400
Ranking: 7th
DigiPen Institute of Technology was established in 1988, and the institute is one of the oldest universities specializing in video games as it was the first university to offer a Bachelor’s degree in Video Game Technology and Development. DigiPen has garnered 57 IGF awards and over 315 student awards for games and papers.
Degrees available at this university include a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science & Game Design, a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science in Real-Time Interactive Simulation (ABET accredited), a Game Design BA, and a Digital Art MFA. These courses include Game Design, Development and Production, Scripting for Games, Lighting and Rendering, Character Rigging, and Organic or Hard Surface Modeling.
The Digital Art MFA has a Final Thesis Project and includes a Professional Portfolio so that the graduates can work in games and animation. Also, BS/MS at DigiPen can be delivered in five years, and students collaborate on team-based projects, developing software and new video games.
DigiPen has an impressive employment rate where over 1,500 companies recruit students, which include giants such as Epic Games, Electronic Arts (EA), Sony Interactive Entertainment, Nintendo, DreamWorks Interactive, Google, Amazon, Walt Disney Imagineering, and SpaceX, among others.
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Abertay University
Location: Dundee, Scotland
Acceptance Rate: 85%
Accreditation:
Tuition: £17,000
Ranking: 11th
It is located in Dundee and is recognized as a global provider of computer arts and computer games technology, with special emphasis on applied education, employability skills and professional links. The courses offered at the university ensure that graduates can step into markets with employable skills or start their own businesses. Abertay has provided the first Computer Games Technology degree since 1997 and continues to maintain a position as one of the leading educational institutions in an industry that has expanded at an unprecedented rate. The university gains students from across the world to learn from the expertise and reputation of the university.
However, more than just a gaming university, Abertay uses game technology to solve global issues such as cancer, drugs, climate change, and the environment. Advanced graphics in games help scientists explain their findings through interactive visuals, which in turn help policymakers understand empirical findings better.
The university also has applied research groups in soil science, wastewater management, and food science, among others. These groups aim to create new knowledge and improve local and national workforce skills, thus evidencing the university’s ability to deliver impact via its research.
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Miami University
Location: Oxford, Ohio
Acceptance Rate: 82%
Accreditation: Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
Tuition: $39,298
Ranking: 28th
Miami University’s College of Creative Arts hosts the Emerging Technology in Business+ Design (ETBD) Department, which emphasizes Games + Simulation. This program offers the BS and the minor with specializations in Game Art, Game Studies, and Game Development. For a Games + Simulation major, one needs to complete 124 credit hours, including 76 credit hours for the major and 21 credit hours for the area of concentration. The program also culminates with a 12-credit-hour Capstone Studio on Game Pipeline and Production, Game Pre-production, and Game Production. This makes them ready to develop a game that meets the industry standards once they are out of school.
There is also a cross-disciplinary minor option which includes a total of 19 credit hours of interdisciplinary courses that cut across ETBD, Art, and Computer Science Departments. Optional subjects help students focus on specific aspects of the game, such as Game Development, Writing for Games, or 3D Art and Animation.
ETBD offers students over 50 games courses, semester-long pre-professional internships in the United States and Europe, and an honors program, which includes special courses and group learning. Students also use modern production facilities and laboratories. All ETBD students are required to intern at local or national studios, and as part of their industry experience, more than 20 opportunities are offered. Graduates find employment opportunities in areas such as Game Design, Writing for Games, Game Art, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality, 3D Modelling, User Interface/User Experience and Multimedia design.
Conclusion
The top 10 game development colleges listed offer students a great opportunity to gain their education and training as they offer modern facilities, industry links and practical training. Thus, one can get all the knowledge and experience necessary to work in this field by attending one of these colleges. Since the gaming industry is expanding, graduates have many job opportunities available to them. Check out these best colleges and universities and build a strong gaming career and pave the way for a prosperous career in game development.