A metro of 7,796,182 people has exactly one school with ranked game programs, which is the first thing to know about game design schools in Houston, since one campus, Houston Christian University, holds both ranked spots inside the metro, an animation program and a game design program, and neither sits in the top 70 nationally. The strongest animation score in reach belongs to a university 65 miles out, and the cheapest start is a community college inside the city.
Kevin ToFounder & EditorB.S. in Computer Science, Temple UniversityUpdated
4Game Programs Within 25 Milesgame design, programming, simulation and animation, all levelsIPEDS locations
4Game Programs Within 50 Milesat 3 collegesIPEDS locations
1Ranked Game Design Bachelor's Nearbyranked, within 50 miles; plus 1 animationOur ranking
Houston Christian University leads the metro at 56.4.2 ranked programs sit inside the Houston, Pasadena and The Woodlands metro. Price is its strength: aided first-year students pay $20,530, $5,620 under the ranking's median, though 48% completion trails the 59% median.The Ranking ›
Software developers earn $129,440 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 0.64), with about 22,940 people in the occupation. In Houston, web and digital interface designers, where bls counts game designers, earn $96,750, which is 7% under the national median of $104,000.Pay ›
267 software and game publishers in the metro.Concentration 0.43, where 1.00 matches the U.S. Those publishers employ 8,866 people. The metro also has 1,406 custom programming studios and 139 film, video and animation production companies.Employers ›
In-state tuition starts at $2,904.2 public colleges nearby offer a game-related program. The highest in-state tuition nearby is $3,915, so where you enroll changes the bill a lot.Costs ›
A one-bedroom rents for $1,273 a month.The U.S. median one-bedroom is $1,301. Median rent in the Houston, Pasadena and The Woodlands metro is $1,469 a month, close to the U.S. median of $1,487. The lowest on-campus room and board nearby is $10,816 a year at Houston Christian University.Living Costs ›
Ranked in Houston
The Best Game Design Schools in Houston, TX for 2027
Both ranked entries belong to Houston Christian University, 10 miles from the center. Its animation program is placed 48 of 82 on a score of 56.4, and its game and interactive media design program is placed 59 of 89 on 52.9. Together they graduate 3 students a year, 2 in animation and 1 in game design, which makes for very small classes.
Sticker price runs $36,750, the average net price across the whole university is $20,530, and 48% of students there complete. The graduate counts are low, so ask the school directly how the program runs.
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 Houston.
Houston, TX · Private nonprofit · Animation program · 10 miles
56.4
#48 of 82 in animation
10 miles from Houston
Animation
Private
Houston Christian's B.F.A. in Animation is a city-campus option in Houston, about 10 miles from the middle of town, and it is small: roughly 2 students graduate from the program in a typical year. Students choose a path in narrative storytelling, technical animation or visual effects after foundation courses in 2D and 3D digital design and story development. The 125-credit degree includes classes in cinema and animation principles, 3D digital art, animation production and portfolio, pitching and networking, and it requires an internship.
For someone living in Houston, the numbers are the draw. Tuition is $36,750 and is the same for every student, while net price for aided first-years is $20,530. School-wide, 4,276 students attend, 84% of applicants are admitted, and 48% finish within eight years. Coursework also includes faith-based and culturally reflective material.
Houston, TX · Private nonprofit · Game design program · 10 miles
52.9
#59 of 89 nationally
10 miles from Houston
Private
Houston Christian University offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Video Game Design from a city campus 10 miles from central Houston. The BFA format points toward an art-centered take on game making, though the program is small: about 1 student a year graduates from it, so classmates will be few.
For a Houston-area student, the university is a private nonprofit with published tuition of $36,750 and a cost of attendance of $58,132. School-wide net price for aided first-years is $20,530, which narrows the gap considerably. Across the university, 48% of students complete a degree within eight years, 4,276 are enrolled, 84% of applicants are admitted and the SAT midpoint is 1090. Earnings ten years after enrollment average $55,933 across all majors.
The rest of the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro and the nearby areas are covered on the Texas page.
StateTexas4 ranked game bachelor's · 15 programs in allView the Texas guide ›
More ways in
Other Game Programs in Houston
2 more programs inside the Houston, Pasadena and The Woodlands 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).
Houston pay trails the national medians in every role listed. Software developers earn $129,440 here, $6,540 under the national figure and $2,710 under what Texas as a whole pays. Computer programmers earn $96,440, and interface designers earn $96,750.
$55,670–$93,350$56k–$93k$55,670 to $93,350, May 2025May 2025
170May 2024
$78,930May 2025
$102,030
Graphic designersWhere many art and UI graduates start
$58,400
$44,670–$73,710$45k–$74k$44,670 to $73,710
2,770
$60,150
$62,960
Computer programmersProgramming roles outside software development
$96,440
$71,530–$126,450$72k–$126k$71,530 to $126,450
1,340
$99,330
$100,390
Art directorsSenior art leads; rarely a first job
$91,570
$72,250–$110,830$72k–$111k$72,250 to $110,830
310
$88,270
$114,850
Annual wages, BLS OEWS May 2025, for the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metropolitan area. The middle half earns between the 25th and 75th percentile. Figures tagged May 2024 are from that earlier BLS release, because BLS didn't publish one for the Houston, Pasadena and The Woodlands metro in the current release.
The art roles are where the gap widens. Animation and effects work lands at $77,690, a sizable $24,340 under the national median, while graphic designers earn $58,400. Art directors are the exception to the state comparison at $91,570, which is $3,300 more than the Texas median, though that's rarely a first job.
Prices help. The overall level is 98.6, below the national average of 100, and housing comes in at 104.5, so rent is the one cost that runs above average.
Software development is a smaller share of jobs in the Houston, Pasadena and The Woodlands metro than nationally (location quotient 0.64), with about 22,940 people in the occupation. In Houston, web and digital interface designers, where bls counts game designers, earn $96,750, which is 7% under the national median of $104,000. BEA's index puts prices in the Houston, Pasadena and The Woodlands metro near the U.S. average, at 98.6.
Houston is not a game-industry city, and the Census data is blunt about it. Software and game publishers run at 43% of the national concentration, custom programming studios at 59%, and film, video and animation production at only 12%. Census doesn't count studios as their own industry and files most of them under software publishers, so that first row is the best proxy, and it's well under the U.S. average.
Industry
What it covers
Businesses
Employees
Concentration
Software and game publishers
Software publishers (game publishers and studios are filed here)
267
8,866
0.43
Custom programming studios
Custom computer programming services (contract and co-development studios)
1,406
12,217
0.59
Film, video and animation production
Motion picture and video production (animation and VFX studios)
139
381
0.12
Graphic design firms
Graphic design services
205
682
0.68
Establishments and March payroll employees in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX 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.
The occupations tell the same story. Software developers are at a location quotient of 0.64, web and digital interface designers at 0.35, computer programmers at 0.69 and art directors at 0.27, all less common than nationally. Graphic designers, at 0.66, are no better. We found no named studios for this metro.
That doesn't make a game career impossible, it just changes the plan. Expect to work remotely for a studio elsewhere or relocate after graduating, and use Houston's cheaper living as a way to build a portfolio without much debt.
How Common Game-Adjacent Jobs Are in Houston
Occupation
Jobs per 1,000
Location quotient
Software developers
6.97
0.64
Web and digital interface designers
0.25
0.35
Graphic designers
0.84
0.66
Computer programmers
0.41
0.69
Art directors
0.09
0.27
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 Houston Produces
Schools near Houston produce about 19 game-related graduates a year, only 3 of them at the bachelor's level, and all of them come from colleges inside the metro. Against 23,770 core jobs, that's 0.1%. Houston Community College leads with 15 associate graduates a year in animation and related fields, while Houston Christian University adds 2, as does Lee College.
The largest of them by graduates a year are the programs in the ranking and the other programs above, led by Houston Community College with about 15 a year.
Read that carefully. A small pipeline doesn't mean a wide-open local market, since the core jobs here are mostly general software and interface roles and Houston's concentration of them is below the national average. Graduates also leave for studio cities. The honest takeaway is that Houston is a place to start cheaply, not a place with a built-in game career ladder.
Cost near Houston
Paying for School in Houston
Two public colleges are within 50 miles, both in Texas, and the out-of-state penalty at each is small. Houston Community College lists $2,904 for residents and $3,624 for everyone else, and Lee College lists $3,915 and $4,295. School-wide net prices are $6,033 and $7,515.
The public colleges within 50 miles that offer a game-related program, all in Texas. 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).
TEXAS Grant, awarded through the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, is the state aid to ask about if you're a resident heading to a four-year school. No undergraduate regional tuition exchange applies to Texas, so students arriving from other states pay the standard rates.
State Aid in Texas
Texas's main need program for undergraduates is the TEXAS Grant, run by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. In its own words: "The Texas Legislature established the TEXAS Grant to provide aid to Students with financial need who are attending a Texas public University or health-related institution." The Texas page covers state aid and public college costs in more detail.
Tuition Exchanges
Texas takes part in the Academic Common Market (ACM) only at the graduate level, so undergraduates pay full nonresident tuition at public schools in other states unless the school offers its own award.
Living costs
Living in Houston as a Student
Rent is the number that works in Houston's favor. Across the metro the median renter pays $1,469, essentially level with the $1,487 U.S. figure and $18 under it. Budget $1,273 monthly for a one-bedroom, $15,276 across the year, compared with $1,301 for the U.S. one-bedroom. Metro prices overall sit at 98.6, a bit under the national level of 100.
Monthly rent
Houston, Pasadena and The Woodlands metro
U.S.
All rentals, median
$1,469
$1,487
One bedroom, median
$1,273
$1,301
Two bedrooms, median
$1,476
$1,490
Median gross rent (rent plus utilities the tenant pays), American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, tables B25064 and B25031.
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,476 brings it to $738 each. Just one college, Houston Christian University, reports on-campus room and board, at $10,816. Houston Community College has no campus housing, and Lee College lacks it too, so students there rent off campus, and the colleges' own off-campus estimates are $9,330 and $6,018. That's cheap enough that living costs shouldn't be the thing that stops you.
Median rent in the Houston, Pasadena and The Woodlands metro is $1,469 a month, close to the U.S. median of $1,487.
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.
Your choices are thin, so be specific about the work. The game degree at Houston Christian University offers a game design program and sits beside an animation program, which gives you a design-and-art mix and no ranked programming track. If code is your goal, a computer science route plus self-built projects is the realistic plan in this city.
A two-step path is worth considering. Start at Houston Community College for a few thousand dollars a year, then move to a bachelor's, since the school-wide net price of $6,033 is a fraction of the $20,530 at Houston Christian University, and Sam Houston State University, 65 miles out, scores higher than any metro program, so it's the one to compare against if you're willing to move.
Commuting works for Houston Christian University at 10 miles straight-line, though traffic in a metro this size makes that distance feel longer than it looks. Houston Christian University is the only ranked school in the metro.
Admission is rarely the hard part here: 2 of the 3 colleges on this page admit anyone with a high school diploma; Houston Christian University admitted 84% of applicants for fall 2024. None requires SAT or ACT scores.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Houston Schools Have Ranked Game Design Programs?
Houston Christian University is the top-ranked game design school in Houston, scoring 56.4 and ranked 59 of 89 nationally. Price is its strength: aided first-year students pay $20,530, $5,620 under the ranking's median, though 48% completion trails the 59% median. It is small, about 2 graduates a year, which can mean closer faculty contact but fewer electives each term. Houston Christian University is next at 52.9, one of 2 ranked programs in the metro. See the ranked programs.
What Do Game Developers Make in Houston?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that counts game programmers, earn a median of $129,440 in the Houston, Pasadena and The Woodlands metro, against $135,980 nationally (BLS May 2025). In the Houston, Pasadena and The Woodlands metro, web and digital interface designers, where game designers are counted, earn $96,750, which is 7% under the national median of $104,000. BEA's index puts prices in the Houston, Pasadena and The Woodlands metro near the U.S. average, at 98.6. See what game jobs pay in Houston.
How Much Does Houston Community College Cost?
Houston Community College is 3 miles from central Houston. Published tuition is $2,904 for in-state students and $3,624 out of state. It offers an animation program at the associate level that our ranking doesn't score. The program graduates about 15 students a year. It admits any high school graduate, so the program is open to you without an application contest. See the ranked programs.
How Far Is Houston Christian University From Downtown?
Houston Christian University has an average net price of $20,530 a year for aided first-year students (IPEDS), the price after grants rather than the published one. Published tuition is $36,750 for every student, in state or not. It is 10 miles from central Houston, ranked 59 of 89 nationally, with a school-wide completion rate of 48%. It is small, about 2 graduates a year, which can mean closer faculty contact but fewer electives each term. See the ranked programs.
Is Houston Cheap for Game Design Students?
In-state tuition at public colleges near Houston starts at $2,904 a year, at Houston Community College, and runs up to $3,915 at Lee College. Nonresidents pay $3,624 at Houston Community College. 2 public colleges within 50 miles offer a game-related program, and private colleges charge every student the same tuition. After grants, Houston Community College has the lowest average net price nearby, $6,033, under the $13,240 public average in the median state. See paying for school in Houston.
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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.
