If you're looking at game design schools in Greensboro, the choice is short and both options are private. Greensboro College sits 2 miles from the city center and High Point University is 13 miles away, and both are game design programs. Neither one is a large public university, and the pay for game jobs in this metro runs below North Carolina's. The upside is a cost of living under the national average and a community college route close by.
Kevin ToFounder & EditorB.S. in Computer Science, Temple UniversityUpdated
3Game Programs Within 25 Milesgame design, programming, simulation and animation, all levelsIPEDS locations
4Game Programs Within 50 Milesat 4 collegesIPEDS locations
2Ranked Game Design Bachelor's Programs Nearbyranked, within 50 milesOur ranking
Greensboro College leads the metro at 54.5.2 ranked programs sit inside the Greensboro and High Point metro. Price is its strength: aided first-year students pay $19,783, $6,367 under the ranking's median, though 37% completion trails the 59% median.The Ranking ›
Software developers earn $125,190 here.The U.S. median for the same job is $135,980. Software development is a smaller share of jobs in the metro than nationally (location quotient 0.43), with about 1,710 people in the occupation. In Greensboro, web and digital interface designers, where bls counts game designers, earn $77,790, which is 25% under the national median of $104,000.Pay ›
17 software and game publishers in the metro.Concentration 0.07, where 1.00 matches the U.S. Those publishers employ 158 people. The metro also has 92 custom programming studios and 30 film, video and animation production companies.Employers ›
In-state tuition starts at $1,824.2 public colleges nearby offer a game-related program. The highest in-state tuition nearby is $2,128, so where you enroll changes the bill a lot.Costs ›
A one-bedroom rents for $1,044 a month.The U.S. median one-bedroom is $1,301. Rent helps here, at a $1,171 monthly median in the Greensboro and High Point metro, $316 under the national figure. The lowest on-campus room and board nearby is $11,964 a year at Greensboro College.Living Costs ›
Ranked in Greensboro
The Best Game Design Schools in Greensboro, NC for 2027
Both ranked programs inside the Greensboro-High Point metro are game design degrees. High Point University is 76 of 89 at 44.0, and Greensboro College is 55 of 89 at 54.5. Greensboro College scores higher, but the bigger difference between them shows up in size and price.
Size is where they split. High Point University graduates 21 students a year from the program, while Greensboro College graduates 3. A cohort of 3 means a very small peer group for team projects, which some students love and others find thin. The school-wide completion rate is 71% at High Point and 37% at Greensboro College, so ask the smaller school how many starters finish.
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 Greensboro.
Greensboro, NC · Private nonprofit · Game design program · 2 miles
54.5
#55 of 89 nationally
2 miles from Greensboro
Private
Only 2 miles from Greensboro itself, the college offers a city campus where students can live and study without a commute. Its Games & Interactive Media major blends media studies, communication and game design, and students prototype their own digital games and write about games and media projects.
The college competes in Division III sports, including esports, and classes run 10 to 30 students. Tuition is $20,900, the cost of attendance is $38,130 before aid, and aided first-years pay a net price of $19,783. School-wide, 967 students are enrolled and 37% of entering students finish within eight years. Roughly three students graduate from the program each year. Careers the program names include game tester, game writer and esports caster. Students can build teamwork through collaborative projects on characters and levels.
High Point, NC · Private nonprofit · Game design program · 13 miles
44.0
#76 of 89 nationally
13 miles from Greensboro
Private
At just 13 miles from Greensboro, High Point University is close enough that a student could commute from home or live on campus and still be near family. The Bachelor of Arts in Game Design there is built on storytelling, criticism and design, and it asks students to understand what games mean for society as well as how they are built.
Summer research is an option: past projects included mobile applications for animals, interface design and virtual reality simulations for the criminal justice department. The program awards roughly 21 degrees a year. School-wide, net price for aided first-year students is $43,578, and the university reports ten-year earnings of $61,389 across all majors.
Tuition is the same $39,714 for every student, and the cost of attendance before aid is $67,986. Across the university, 71% of entering students complete within eight years.
The rest of the Greensboro-High Point, NC metro and the nearby areas are covered on the North Carolina page.
StateNorth Carolina3 ranked game bachelor's · 14 programs in allView the North Carolina guide ›
More ways in
Other Game Programs in Greensboro
2 more programs inside the Greensboro and High Point 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).
Game programmers and engine developers are counted as software developers, and the Greensboro-High Point median is $125,190. That's $9,520 below the state median and $10,790 below the national median. With 1,710 people employed in the metro in that category, it's the deepest job market among the game-adjacent occupations here.
Graphic designersWhere many art and UI graduates start
$55,240
$46,860–$71,380$47k–$71k$46,860 to $71,380
470
$58,450
$62,960
Computer programmersProgramming roles outside software development
$84,700
$73,380–$93,460$73k–$93k$73,380 to $93,460
190
$81,070
$100,390
Art directorsSenior art leads; rarely a first job
$85,610
$81,880–$113,380$82k–$113k$81,880 to $113,380
100
$90,000
$114,850
BLS doesn't publish special effects artists and animators pay for the Greensboro and High Point metro. Nationally, the median is $102,030. See animator salary › Annual wages, BLS OEWS May 2025, for the Greensboro-High Point, NC metropolitan area. The middle half earns between the 25th and 75th percentile.
Design and art pay looks lower. Game designers and UI designers sit under web and digital interface designers, and that group has a metro median of $77,790, which is $20,200 below the state median. Graphic designers make $55,240 in this metro, and the few art directors make $85,610. BLS publishes no metro median for special effects artists and animators, so the only animator figure is the state median of $88,350.
Computer programmers are the one bright spot, at $84,700, or $3,630 above the state median. Rent and groceries are cheaper here too: the overall price level is 92.9 where the country averages 100, and housing drops to 74.5. A smaller paycheck stretches further than the raw numbers suggest.
Software development is a smaller share of jobs in the Greensboro and High Point metro than nationally (location quotient 0.43), with about 1,710 people in the occupation. In Greensboro, web and digital interface designers, where bls counts game designers, earn $77,790, which is 25% under the national median of $104,000. Living costs work in your favor in the Greensboro and High Point metro: BEA puts prices 7.1% below the U.S. average, so a paycheck or a student budget goes further.
The job market is the weak spot, and it's worth being direct about it. Census doesn't count game studios on their own, and software publishers, where most are counted, come in at 7% of the national concentration with only 17 businesses. Custom programming studios are 36% of the national level, film, video and animation production is 17%, and graphic design firms are 79%.
Industry
What it covers
Businesses
Employees
Concentration
Software and game publishers
Software publishers (game publishers and studios are filed here)
17
158
0.07
Custom programming studios
Custom computer programming services (contract and co-development studios)
92
850
0.36
Film, video and animation production
Motion picture and video production (animation and VFX studios)
30
63
0.17
Graphic design firms
Graphic design services
33
91
0.79
Establishments and March payroll employees in the Greensboro-High Point, NC 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.
Occupations tell the same story. Software developers are far below the national share, at 0.43, and web and digital interface designers, computer programmers and art directors are all less common here. Only graphic designers are more common than nationally, at 1.02. The metro has 109 programming and publishing businesses in total.
That means a studio job in Greensboro is unlikely, so most game graduates would work remotely or move. We found no named local studios to point you to.
How Common Game-Adjacent Jobs Are in Greensboro
Occupation
Jobs per 1,000
Location quotient
Software developers
4.67
0.43
Web and digital interface designers
0.57
0.78
Graphic designers
1.29
1.02
Computer programmers
0.52
0.87
Art directors
0.28
0.84
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 Greensboro Produces
Inside the metro, game-related programs graduate 36 people a year. Against 1,920 core jobs, that comes to 1.9%. High Point University leads with 21 a year in game and interactive media design, then Guilford Technical Community College with 13, and Greensboro College adds 3. Within 50 miles the total is 48, half of them with bachelor's degrees, and Forsyth Technical Community College, 25 miles out, accounts for 12 of those.
The 4 largest game-related programs within 50 miles of central Greensboro by graduates a year, IPEDS completions averaged 2022 to 2024:
Don't treat the ratio as a hiring rate. The core jobs are mostly regular software and web roles, not game jobs, and many graduates leave town. A ratio that high next to a small job base does warn you that local competition for entry-level roles could be tougher than the raw job count suggests.
Cost near Greensboro
Paying for School in Greensboro
The two public colleges within 50 miles are both North Carolina community colleges. Guilford Technical Community College charges $2,128 to residents and $7,504 to non-residents, a premium of $5,376, with a school-wide net price of $13,374. Forsyth Technical Community College charges $1,824 to residents and $6,432 to non-residents, and its net price is $5,147.
The public colleges within 50 miles that offer a game-related program, all in North Carolina. 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).
North Carolina students can apply the Next NC Scholarship, run by the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority, toward eligible costs. There's no undergraduate regional tuition exchange covering this area, so out-of-state students pay the full out-of-state rate at the community colleges.
State Aid in North Carolina
North Carolina's main need program for undergraduates is the Next NC Scholarship, run by the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority. In its own words: "The Next NC Scholarship is a financial aid program that helps most North Carolinians from households making $80,000 or less pursue higher education." The North Carolina page covers state aid and public college costs in more detail.
Tuition Exchanges
SREB’s FAQ says that "North Carolina no longer participates in the ACM."
Living costs
Living in Greensboro as a Student
Greensboro is affordable. Median rent is $1,171, $316 below the U.S. median of $1,487. A year in a one-bedroom at $1,044 totals $12,528, and sharing a two-bedroom at $1,095 puts your share at $548. Overall prices are at 92.9 and housing at 74.5, where 100 is the national average.
Monthly rent
Greensboro and High Point metro
U.S.
All rentals, median
$1,171
$1,487
One bedroom, median
$1,044
$1,301
Two bedrooms, median
$1,095
$1,490
Median gross rent (rent plus utilities the tenant pays), American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, tables B25064 and B25031.
Room and board on campus is $11,964 at Greensboro College and $18,462 at High Point University. The two technical colleges have no housing, and their off-campus estimates are $10,872 and $7,991. Since renting here costs so little, living off campus is often the cheaper way to go.
Rent helps here, at a $1,171 monthly median in the Greensboro and High Point metro, $316 under the national figure.
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.
Both ranked options near you lean toward design rather than programming. None of the ranked programs within 50 miles is a game programming program or simulation, and none is an animation bachelor's. If you want to code engines, plan on taking a computer science route and treat game design as the project side, or look at the online programs below.
Public versus private is not a real choice here, because every ranked bachelor's nearby is private. Greensboro College's net price is $19,783 against $43,578 at High Point University, and those are school-wide figures, not program prices. The associate programs at Guilford Technical and Forsyth Technical are the only public paths.
Commuting works for Greensboro College at 2 miles, and High Point University at 13 miles is still an easy daily trip. Those are straight-line miles, so check the real route before you commit. Forsyth Technical is 25 miles out.
Admission is rarely the hard part here: 1 of the 3 colleges on this page admits anyone with a high school diploma, and among the rest fall 2024 admission ran from 70% at Greensboro College to 75% at High Point University. None requires SAT or ACT scores.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are the Best Game Design Schools in Greensboro?
Greensboro College is the top-ranked game design school in Greensboro, scoring 54.5 and ranked 55 of 89 nationally. Price is its strength: aided first-year students pay $19,783, $6,367 under the ranking's median, though 37% completion trails the 59% median. It is small, about 3 graduates a year, which can mean closer faculty contact but fewer electives each term. High Point University is next at 44.0, one of 2 ranked programs in the metro. See the ranked programs.
Do Game Developers in Greensboro Earn Less Than the Rest of North Carolina?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that counts game programmers, earn a median of $125,190 in the Greensboro and High Point metro, against $135,980 nationally (BLS May 2025). In the Greensboro and High Point metro, web and digital interface designers, where game designers are counted, earn $77,790, which is 25% under the national median of $104,000. Living costs work in your favor in the Greensboro and High Point metro: BEA puts prices 7.1% below the U.S. average, so a paycheck or a student budget goes further. See what game jobs pay in Greensboro.
Which Community College Near Greensboro Is Cheapest?
In-state tuition at public colleges near Greensboro starts at $1,824 a year, at Forsyth Technical Community College, and runs up to $2,128 at Guilford Technical Community College. Nonresidents pay $6,432 at Forsyth Technical Community College. 2 public colleges within 50 miles offer a game-related program, and private colleges charge every student the same tuition. After grants, Forsyth Technical Community College has the lowest average net price nearby, $5,147, under the $13,240 public average in the median state. See paying for school in Greensboro.
How Far Do I Have to Travel for a Game Design Degree From Greensboro?
2 ranked programs sit inside the Greensboro and High Point metro, and 2 associate, graduate or certificate programs add other ways in. Greensboro College scores highest, at 54.5. The top program is 2 miles from central Greensboro, close enough to commute if housing nearby is out of reach. 3 game-related programs sit within 25 miles of central Greensboro and 4 within 50, counting every level. The rest of the metro and the nearby areas are on the North Carolina page. See the ranked programs.
How Cheap Is Rent in Greensboro?
Median rent in the Greensboro and High Point metro was $1,171 a month in 2024, $316 below the U.S. median of $1,487 (Census ACS). A one-bedroom runs $1,044. On-campus room and board at nearby colleges starts at $11,964 a year at Greensboro College, which bundles meals and avoids a lease. Housing is where Greensboro saves you money, at 74.5 on BEA's index against 100 nationally. See living in Greensboro as a student.
Can I Get Into a Greensboro Game Design Program Easily?
Admission is rarely the hard part here: 1 of the 3 colleges on this page admits anyone with a high school diploma, and among the rest fall 2024 admission ran from 70% at Greensboro College to 75% at High Point University. 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 Guilford Technical Community College, 9 miles from central Greensboro. Each program card shows its college's admission rate where one is reported. See how to choose a program.
Keep exploring
Related Pages
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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.
