Anyone searching for game design schools in Denver will find a short list with a catch: all three ranked programs inside the metro are private, and the best of them sits at 51 of 82 for animation and 67 of 89 for game design. The public route is a community college associate program with a very steep gap between in-state and out-of-state tuition. The best-scoring ranked program near here is a simulation degree 60 miles out, which is a different trade-off than staying in the metro.
Kevin ToFounder & EditorB.S. in Computer Science, Temple UniversityUpdated
7Game Programs Within 25 Milesgame design, programming, simulation and animation, all levelsIPEDS locations
7Game Programs Within 50 Milesat 5 collegesIPEDS locations
2Ranked Game Design Bachelor's Programs Nearbyranked, within 50 miles; plus 1 animationOur ranking
Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design leads the metro at 54.1.3 ranked programs sit inside the Denver, Aurora and Centennial metro. It trails the ranking's medians on both counts, with 31% completion against 59% and a $27,459 net price against $26,150, so weigh what makes it worth that.The Ranking ›
Software developers earn $137,610 here.The U.S. median for the same job is $135,980. About 27,010 people work as software developers in the metro, a heavier concentration than the country as a whole (location quotient 1.55). In Denver, web and digital interface designers, where bls counts game designers, earn $98,330, which is 5% under the national median of $104,000.Pay ›
348 software and game publishers in the metro.Concentration 1.78, where 1.00 matches the U.S. Those publishers employ 18,239 people. The metro also has 1,222 custom programming studios and 203 film, video and animation production companies.Employers ›
In-state tuition starts at $4,058.3 public colleges nearby offer a game-related program. The highest in-state tuition nearby is $4,058, so where you enroll changes the bill a lot.Costs ›
A one-bedroom rents for $1,713 a month.The U.S. median one-bedroom is $1,301. Rent is the big cost in the Denver, Aurora and Centennial metro: the median is $1,943 a month, $456 over the U.S. median. The lowest on-campus room and board nearby is $17,049 a year at University of Denver.Living Costs ›
Ranked in Denver
The Best Game Design Schools in Denver, CO for 2027
University of Denver is the only one of the three with a campus in the city itself, 7 miles from the center. Its game and interactive media design program ranks 83 of 89, scoring 39.9, publishes $60,048 in tuition and graduates 6 students a year. The school-wide completion rate is 75%, though the net price of $43,324 is a school-wide figure too.
Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, 10 miles out in Lakewood, holds the other two spots: animation at 51 of 82 and game design at 67 of 89, with 46 and 23 graduates a year. It publishes $17,760, far below the University of Denver, but its school-wide completion rate is 31%, so look hard at how many students finish before you compare sticker prices.
Game design, game programming, simulation and animation programs are all scored the same way, on completion, net price and program size. On each card, completion is the school's 8-year award rate and net price its average for aided first-year students, both from IPEDS; grads a year is the program's own average, 2022 to 2024. Miles are straight-line from central Denver.
Lakewood, CO · Private for-profit · Animation program · 10 miles
54.1
#51 of 82 in animation
10 miles from Denver
Lowest net price in Denver
Largest program in Denver
Animation
Private
Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design is in suburban Lakewood, 10 miles from Denver, and offers its animation BFA as a 2D or a 3D track. Small classes, portfolio reviews at the sophomore, junior and senior levels, and a foundation in observational drawing, anatomy, storyboarding and animatics shape the work. Highlights include motion studies, the 12 principles of animation, character design, timing and acting for animation. Admission steps start with an artist meeting and a portfolio submission for scholarship consideration.
About 46 students a year graduate from the program. This private for-profit college charges $17,760 in tuition, and school-wide net price for aided first-years is $27,459. Across the college, 2,061 students are enrolled and 31% complete a degree within eight years. Earnings ten years after enrollment average $42,958 across all majors.
Lakewood, CO · Private for-profit · Game design program · 10 miles
50.7
#67 of 89 nationally
10 miles from Denver
Private
Lakewood is 10 miles from Denver, so RMCAD works as a commuter option for a metro student. Small class sizes are meant to give direct access to faculty, and students mix with people from other programs. Game art majors choose a specialty in environment art or character art.
The local cost story is tuition of $17,760, a rate locked at the start date, and a school-wide net price of $27,459 for aided first-years. Completion is 31% school-wide, so students should ask about pacing and support. Classes run year-round, and on-campus students take some courses online. About 23 graduate from the program annually, and the setting is suburban rather than downtown. Admission asks for an artist meeting with a representative, an application, transcripts and a portfolio, which is also how scholarships are considered.
Denver, CO · Private nonprofit · Game design program · 7 miles
39.9
#83 of 89 nationally
7 miles from Denver
Highest completion in Denver
Private
Seven miles from downtown Denver, the University of Denver puts a game development degree in reach of a daily commute. The curriculum starts with Introductory Game Design, which moves from design to prototype to a finished simple 2D game, then continues into Game Programming, where a game engine is used to build 3D games.
Students who live in the metro can stay home or move to campus, either way facing the same $60,048 tuition. School-wide, aided first-years pay a net price of $43,324, and graduates of all majors earn $71,155 ten years after entering. The program is small, with about 6 graduates a year.
Students take 52 credits of computing courses, a mathematics minor and a second minor in a creative field. Cost of attendance before aid is $82,566, and 75% of entering students across the university finish within eight years.
The rest of the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO metro and the nearby areas are covered on the Colorado page.
StateColorado3 ranked game bachelor's · 10 programs in allView the Colorado guide ›
More ways in
Other Game Programs in Denver
4 more programs inside the Denver, Aurora and Centennial metro offer a way into game work without a ranked bachelor's. These associate, graduate and certificate programs aren't in the bachelor's ranking, so they carry no score. Grads a year is the program's IPEDS average, 2022 to 2024, and admission is the college's fall 2024 rate (College Scorecard).
Denver pays game programmers about what the rest of the country does. Software developers have a metro median of $137,610, only $1,630 above the national median and $780 below the state median. Computer programmers earn $104,610, $4,220 above the national figure.
Graphic designersWhere many art and UI graduates start
$72,500
$57,980–$90,770$58k–$91k$57,980 to $90,770
2,590
$66,330
$62,960
Computer programmersProgramming roles outside software development
$104,610
$76,190–$132,220$76k–$132k$76,190 to $132,220
540
$104,610
$100,390
Art directorsSenior art leads; rarely a first job
$99,990
$81,910–$123,480$82k–$123k$81,910 to $123,480
520
$99,990
$114,850
Annual wages, BLS OEWS May 2025, for the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO metropolitan area. The middle half earns between the 25th and 75th percentile.
The art side trails the national numbers. Special effects artists and animators earn $91,290, $10,740 below the national median, and web and digital interface designers earn $98,330, $5,670 below. Graphic designers do better at $72,500, which is $9,540 above the national median, and art directors earn $99,990.
Housing is where Denver bites: the price level is 146.9 against a national average of 100, with overall prices at 105.8. A median-level offer in games doesn't go as far here as the headline numbers imply.
About 27,010 people work as software developers in the Denver, Aurora and Centennial metro, a heavier concentration than the country as a whole (location quotient 1.55). In Denver, web and digital interface designers, where bls counts game designers, earn $98,330, which is 5% under the national median of $104,000. Prices in the Denver, Aurora and Centennial metro run 5.8% above the U.S. average on BEA's index, which takes a bite out of both pay and a student budget.
Denver leans toward software and design work. Census doesn't count game studios on their own and files most of them with software publishers, which here come in at 1.8 times the national concentration, covering 348 businesses and 18,239 employees. Custom programming studios sit at 1.0 times, and design is strong: graphic design is at 1.9 times the national concentration.
Industry
What it covers
Businesses
Employees
Concentration
Software and game publishers
Software publishers (game publishers and studios are filed here)
348
18,239
1.78
Custom programming studios
Custom computer programming services (contract and co-development studios)
1,222
10,658
1.04
Film, video and animation production
Motion picture and video production (animation and VFX studios)
203
722
0.45
Graphic design firms
Graphic design services
307
970
1.94
Establishments and March payroll employees in the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO metro, County Business Patterns 2023. Concentration is the industry's share of metro employees divided by its share nationally: 1.00 matches the U.S., 2.00 is twice as concentrated.
By occupation, software developers (1.55) and web and digital interface designers (1.81) are both more common in the metro than nationally, and graphic designers are too. The gaps show up elsewhere: special effects artists and animators, computer programmers and art directors are all less common here, and film, video and animation production sits at 45% of the national concentration. If your goal is an animation studio, plan for fewer local openings than a programming path would give you.
There's at least some game activity close by, so ask programs about local internships.
How Common Game-Adjacent Jobs Are in Denver
Occupation
Jobs per 1,000
Location quotient
Software developers
16.78
1.55
Web and digital interface designers
1.32
1.81
Special effects artists and animators
0.09
0.67
Graphic designers
1.61
1.27
Computer programmers
0.33
0.56
Art directors
0.32
0.95
BLS OEWS May 2025. Jobs per 1,000 of all metro jobs; a location quotient above 1.00 means the occupation is more common in the metro than nationally.
Talent pipeline
How Many Game Graduates Denver Produces
About 129 game-related graduates a year come out of colleges within 50 miles of Denver, 75 of them with bachelor's degrees. Against 29,270 core jobs, that's 0.4%. One school does the heavy lifting: Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design turns out 46 a year from its animation and effects program plus 23 more from game and interactive media design. Front Range Community College adds 45 from an associate program.
The largest of them by graduates a year are the programs in the ranking and the other programs above, led by Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design with about 46 a year.
That 0.4% doesn't tell you how easy a game job will be to land. The 29,270 core jobs are mostly software and web roles outside games, and people who graduate here don't all stay in Colorado. It does tell you the local pipeline leans toward art and animation, while the metro's job mix leans toward code.
Cost near Denver
Paying for School in Denver
Three public colleges are within 50 miles, all in Colorado. The tuition schedule at Front Range Community College, Arapahoe Community College, and Red Rocks Community College is identical, listing $4,058 in-state and $16,658 out of state, so the out-of-state premium is $12,600 at all three. Net prices run from $9,250 to $9,786, and those are school-wide numbers.
The public colleges within 50 miles that offer a game-related program, all in Colorado. Tuition is the published undergraduate rate for 2023-24 (IPEDS IC), before aid; net price is the school-wide average for aided first-year students, 2022-23 (IPEDS SFA).
Colorado Student Grant, from the Colorado Department of Higher Education, is the state aid to ask about as a resident. If you live in another western state, check the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) before you accept a $12,600 premium as unavoidable.
State Aid in Colorado
Colorado's main need program for undergraduates is the Colorado Student Grant, run by the Colorado Department of Higher Education. In its own words: "Colorado Need-based Awards: Includes the Colorado Student Grant, Colorado Graduate Grant." The Colorado page covers state aid and public college costs in more detail.
Tuition Exchanges
Colorado belongs to the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE). In the program's own words, "WUE enables eligible students to enroll as nonresidents in 170 participating public colleges and universities and pay 150% (or less) of the enrolling institution’s resident tuition."
Living costs
Living in Denver as a Student
Denver is expensive to rent in. The metro median rent is $1,943, which is $456 above the U.S. median of $1,487. Over twelve months a one-bedroom at $1,713 adds up to $20,556, and sharing a two-bedroom at $2,077 still costs about $1,039 each. Housing prices sit at 146.9 where 100 is the national average, and all prices at 105.8.
Monthly rent
Denver, Aurora and Centennial metro
U.S.
All rentals, median
$1,943
$1,487
One bedroom, median
$1,713
$1,301
Two bedrooms, median
$2,077
$1,490
Median gross rent (rent plus utilities the tenant pays), American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, tables B25064 and B25031.
Campus housing is scarce. Only the University of Denver reports on-campus room and board, at $17,049, and the art school and all three community colleges have no campus housing. Their off-campus allowances run from $13,304 to $14,679, so plan on renting in a market well above the national rate.
Rent is the big cost in the Denver, Aurora and Centennial metro: the median is $1,943 a month, $456 over the U.S. median.
Each college's own yearly estimates for a full-time undergraduate, 2023-24 (IPEDS IC). Off-campus is for a student not living with family.
Start with what you want to build. The ranked game programs here are both game design programs, with one animation program beside them, so the metro is stronger on design and art than on code. If you want a programming route, the game programming associate programs at Arapahoe and Red Rocks, or the simulation degree at University of Colorado Colorado Springs, are the places to look.
Price and outcomes pull in different directions. The Lakewood art school costs less to enter than the University of Denver, yet its completion rate is 31% against 75%, and both figures cover the whole school. A community college start costs far less than either.
Commuting works for all three metro programs, with distances of 7 and 10 miles from the center, though those are straight-line figures. Game work in the metro means there are local places to ask about internships.
Admission is rarely the hard part here: 4 of the 5 colleges on this page admit anyone with a high school diploma; University of Denver admitted 78% of applicants for fall 2024. None requires SAT or ACT scores.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Denver-Area Schools Rank Highest for Game Design?
Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design is the top-ranked game design school in Denver, scoring 54.1 and ranked 67 of 89 nationally. It trails the ranking's medians on both counts, with 31% completion against 59% and a $27,459 net price against $26,150, so weigh what makes it worth that. With about 46 graduates a year, it is one of the larger programs in the ranking, so expect big cohorts and several sections of core courses. Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design is next at 50.7, one of 3 ranked programs in the metro. See the ranked programs.
What Do Game Developers Make in Denver?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that counts game programmers, earn a median of $137,610 in the Denver, Aurora and Centennial metro, against $135,980 nationally (BLS May 2025). In the Denver, Aurora and Centennial metro, web and digital interface designers, where game designers are counted, earn $98,330, which is 5% under the national median of $104,000. Prices in the Denver, Aurora and Centennial metro run 5.8% above the U.S. average on BEA's index, which takes a bite out of both pay and a student budget. See what game jobs pay in Denver.
What Is In-State Tuition at Denver-Area Community Colleges?
In-state tuition at public colleges near Denver starts at $4,058 a year, at Front Range Community College, and runs up to $4,058 at Red Rocks Community College. Nonresidents pay $16,658 at Front Range Community College. 3 public colleges within 50 miles offer a game-related program, and private colleges charge every student the same tuition. After grants, Red Rocks Community College has the lowest average net price nearby, $9,250, under the $13,240 public average in the median state. See paying for school in Denver.
How Far Are the Game Schools From Downtown Denver?
3 ranked programs sit inside the Denver, Aurora and Centennial metro, and 4 associate, graduate or certificate programs add other ways in. Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design scores highest, at 54.1. The top program is 10 miles from central Denver, close enough to commute if housing nearby is out of reach. 7 game-related programs sit within 25 miles of central Denver and 7 within 50, counting every level. The rest of the metro and the nearby areas are on the Colorado page. See the ranked programs.
How Expensive Is It to Live in Denver as a Student?
Median rent in the Denver, Aurora and Centennial metro was $1,943 a month in 2024, $456 above the U.S. median of $1,487 (Census ACS). A one-bedroom runs $1,713. On-campus room and board at nearby colleges starts at $17,049 a year at University of Denver, which bundles meals and avoids a lease. Housing is the expensive part: BEA puts it at 146.9 against a U.S. average of 100. See living in Denver as a student.
Can I Get Into a Denver Game Design Program Without Test Scores?
Admission is rarely the hard part here: 4 of the 5 colleges on this page admit anyone with a high school diploma; University of Denver admitted 78% of applicants for fall 2024. None requires SAT or ACT scores. Starting at an open-admission college and transferring after two years is the most reliable way in. The nearest open-admission option is Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, 10 miles from central Denver. Each program card shows its college's admission rate where one is reported. See how to choose a program.
Keep exploring
Related Pages
CityColorado Springs, CO62 mi from Denver · 9 programs within 100 miles · 3 ranked game bachelor'sView the Colorado Springs guide ›
2NCES, IPEDS Outcome Measures 2023 The completion factor: the share of all entering students, full-time, part-time and transfer, who earned an award within eight years. School-wide.
