The best game design programs, ranked by The Princeton Review 2026

No matter what aspect of game development you're interested in, The Princeton Review has worked to find the best school for you.

Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.

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.

Each year, the Princeton Review ranks the 50 best undergraduate and 25 best graduate programs in the United States and beyond, using a thorough set of criteria that includes graduate employment rates, early-career earnings, faculty industry experience, curriculum relevance, and demonstrated student success in the games industry.

Want to know more?

Check out The Princeton Review's website for further info: www.princetonreview.com/game-design
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
2025 Grads Hired: 20% 2025 Grads Mean Salary: $80,000 Faculty: Christopher Barney, Celia Pearce (IndieCade) Graduates: Devin Yang (Owlchemy Labs), Ryan Maloney (Blizzard)
2025 Grads Hired: 68% 2025 Grads Mean Salary: $67,066 Faculty: Robert Howard, Jeffery Kesselman Graduates: Jeff Hanna (Volition), Keith Self-Ballard (PlayStation)
2025 Grads Hired: 56% 2025 Grads Mean Salary: $28,311 Faculty: Tanya Krzwinska, William Huber Graduates: Rex Crowle (Media Molecule), Sophie Shepherd (Respawn)
2025 Grads Hired: 25% 2025 Grads Mean Salary: $73,500 Faculty: Bastien Lecouffe-Deharme, Greg Lyons Graduates: Dan Clark (Epic), Derek Lewis (Insomniac)
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)
2025 Grads Hired: 10% 2025 Grads Mean Salary: $62,109 Faculty: Patrick Kelly, Miguel De La Cruz Graduates: Alejandro Garcia-Tunon, Elbert Perez (Unity)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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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