Be honest with yourself about the game design schools in Kansas: there is one ranked bachelor's program, and it sits near the bottom of the national ranking. Bethany College, in Lindsborg, ranks 84 of 89 and scores 39.9 and a net price of $29,571. Colorado and Missouri each have three game bachelor's programs, and Oklahoma has two, so many Kansas students will want to look past the state line.
Kevin ToFounder & EditorB.S. in Computer Science, Temple UniversityUpdated
1Game Design Bachelor's Ranked for 2027top score: Bethany CollegeOur ranking
5Game-Related Programs in the State1 bachelor's, 4 associate, 0 graduateIPEDS
$29.6kMedian Net Pricebachelor's schools here, aided first-year studentsIPEDS
Bethany College leads at 39.9.It is the only ranked program in Kansas, scored on completion, net price and size. It finishes 40% of its students and has a $29,571 net price.The Ranking ›
Software developers earn $113,420 here.The U.S. median for the same job is $135,980. About 13,580 people work as software developers in Kansas. In Kansas, web and digital interface designers, where bls counts game designers, earn $70,620, which is 32% under the national median of $104,000. Living costs work in your favor in Kansas: BEA puts prices 9.9% below the U.S. average, so a paycheck or a student budget goes further.Pay ›
Living costs run below the U.S. average.Living costs work in your favor in Kansas: BEA puts prices 9.9% below the U.S. average, so a paycheck or a student budget goes further.Prices ›
Public in-state tuition averages $7,625.The Kansas Comprehensive Grant is Kansas's main state grant. Public colleges cost more here than in most states, with aided in-state students paying $14,657 on average across 8, against $13,240 in the median state. Out of state, tuition averages $19,960.Costs ›
Kansas in brief
Key Facts About Studying Game Design in Kansas
Bethany College is a private nonprofit in Lindsborg, a game design program. It has a 40% completion rate and graduates two students a year, and its net price is $29,571. Those are school-wide figures, but they're the numbers the ranking uses. With so few graduates, the program is closer to a boutique offering than a large studio pipeline.
That's the whole ranked field in Kansas. There's no ranked public program, no animation bachelor's and no game programming or simulation degree. Kansas lists five game-related programs at three colleges, and four of them are associate programs, so two-year options are where most of the activity is.
Every score on this page is the same score the national rankings use, built on completion, net price and program size, from federal data. The methodology has the details.
Ranked in Kansas
The Game Design School in Kansas for 2027
Bethany College leads, ranked 84 of 89 in the national game design ranking, with a completion rate of 40% and an average net price of $29,571. None of them is a public university. The best game design schools ranking shows how these compare with every school in the country.
The program: what stands out, the trade-off to weigh, and the figures behind the score. Completion, net price and earnings are school-wide; graduates a year is the program's own; the score is out of 100.
Lindsborg, KS · Private nonprofit · Game design program
39.9
#84 of 89 nationally
Private
Bethany College, in Lindsborg, offers a Video Game Design major inside its Art and Digital Media department. The major trains students in 3D computer modeling, environmental and animation techniques, game publishing and intellectual property rights, and the use of game triggers and leveling logic to tell a compelling story.
Faculty have worked on major motion pictures including Iron Man and The Lord of the Rings, and students show work in a campus gallery next to the Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery. Tuition is $30,700 for all students, and aided first-years pay a net price of $29,571 school-wide. The campus is rural, among the few of that kind on the list, and about 2 students graduate from this major each year. Students may also look at the other art majors, such as Visual Art Administration, in the same department.
Completion
40%school-wide
Net price
$29,571aided first-years
Grads a year
2this program
Earnings
$49,69410 yrs, all majors
Out-of-state premium
None (private)same tuition for all students
Campus setting
Ruralone of the few rural campuses of the 89 ranked
Programs reported to IPEDS, with graduates per year averaged 2022 to 2024. Associate and graduate programs aren't in the bachelor's ranking, so they carry no score here.
Kansas pays developers a middle-of-the-pack wage. Kansas software developers have a median wage of $113,420, $22,560 beneath the national median, and 13,580 people draw wages in that category. The middle half earn between $86,460 and $136,510, and the state's price level of 90.1 means prices about 9.9% below the national average. Kansas's lower prices help, and a graduate who stays near Wichita lives on a lower budget than the national average suggests.
Graphic designersWhere many art and UI graduates start
$53,630
$43,770–$64,560$44k–$65k$43,770 to $64,560
1,730
$62,960
Computer programmersProgramming roles outside software development
$92,960
$69,440–$119,730$69k–$120k$69,440 to $119,730
460
$100,390
Art directorsSenior art leads; rarely a first job
$60,460May 2025
$57,990–$96,120$58k–$96k$57,990 to $96,120, May 2025May 2025
360May 2024
$114,850
Annual wages, BLS OEWS May 2025. 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 Kansas in the current release. A cell marked with a dash means BLS didn't publish a figure for Kansas, usually because too few employers reported.
Pay in Kansas's Largest Metro Areas
Metro area
Software developers
Web and digital interface designers
Price level
Wichita
$105,980
$70,910
88.9
Topeka
$111,870
$43,210May 2024
88.8
Manhattan
$101,960
$46,870May 2023
90.2
Median annual wages, BLS OEWS May 2025, for the state's largest metropolitan areas by total employment, all in Kansas. Price level is BEA's Regional Price Parity for 2024, where the U.S. average is 100. Figures tagged May 2024 or May 2023 are from that earlier BLS release, because BLS didn't publish one for that metro area in the current release. A cell marked with a dash means BLS (or BEA, for price level) didn't publish a figure for that metro area, usually because too few employers reported.
Design pay is thinner. Game designers are tallied with web and digital interface designers, who earn $70,620, $33,380 beneath the national median, with just 200 people in the job. Special effects artists and animators earn $62,720, $39,310 beneath the national median, though BLS gives no employment count for them.
Among the metros, Topeka's software developers earn $111,870 and Wichita's earn $105,980, while Manhattan's earn $101,960. Wichita is the only metro with a published wage for web and digital interface designers, at $70,910. Wichita art directors earn $53,040, which is below the state's $60,460, and Kansas has no published art director count.
Computer programmers earn $92,960 statewide, and the same figure shows up in Wichita and Topeka. Graphic designers earn $53,630, with 1,730 jobs, and they're where many art and UI graduates begin. First roles run from game testing to junior programming, with junior design and art support in between.
About 13,580 people work as software developers in Kansas. In Kansas, web and digital interface designers, where bls counts game designers, earn $70,620, which is 32% under the national median of $104,000. Living costs work in your favor in Kansas: BEA puts prices 9.9% below the U.S. average, so a paycheck or a student budget goes further.
The game design salary pages explain what each occupation covers and how game studios fit inside it.
Cost in Kansas
Paying for School in Kansas
Kansas runs eight public four-year colleges. Tuition averages $7,625 for residents and $19,960 for nonresidents, so crossing into Kansas from elsewhere adds $12,335. Aid leaves the average in-state net price at $14,657, roughly half of what Bethany College charges. No public school has a ranked game program, which makes a public computer science or art degree the cheaper route if you're willing to build your game portfolio on your own.
Public colleges in KS
Figure
Public four-year colleges
8
Average in-state tuition
$7,625
Average out-of-state tuition
$19,960
Average net price, aided in-state students
$14,657
Means across Kansas's public four-year degree-granting colleges that offer undergraduate study: tuition from IPEDS for 2023-24 (7 colleges reporting), net price for 2022-23 (8 reporting). Net price is what first-year students with grant aid paid after grants.
Public colleges cost more here than in most states, with aided in-state students paying $14,657 on average across 8, against $13,240 in the median state.
The Midwest Student Exchange Program (MSEP) is Kansas's tuition exchange. None of the nearby member states has a public game program in the data, so MSEP is unlikely to unlock a game degree on its own.
State Aid in Kansas
Kansas's main need program for undergraduates is the Kansas Comprehensive Grant, run by the Kansas Board of Regents. In its own words: "The Kansas Comprehensive Grant is available to students with financial need." Fill out the FAFSA early, since many state programs award money until it runs out.
Tuition Exchanges
Kansas belongs to the Midwest Student Exchange Program (MSEP). In the program's own words, "MSEP offers a discounted tuition rate with an average annual tuition savings of $7,000.." It also says: "The program is volunteer based"
Weigh the price of the only ranked option carefully. Bethany College costs $29,571 net and ranks 84 of 89, and the average public net price in Kansas is $14,657. A student who wants a game career has to ask whether the degree or the portfolio is what matters, and then decide whether private tuition is worth it. Ask about scholarships, since a smaller private school often discounts its sticker price.
Look east and west. Missouri has three game bachelor's programs, Colorado has three and Oklahoma has two, while Nebraska has none. Lindenwood University, in Saint Charles, is one of Missouri's options, and it also offers an online Game Design BA.
A related public degree is a legitimate hedge, but it isn't a game design degree. A Kansas public computer science or art program at about $7,625 in-state tuition lets you build projects and a portfolio cheaply. If you do that, aim your portfolio at junior programming or QA roles first.
Neighboring States
Neighboring stateColorado3 ranked game bachelor's · 10 programs in allView the Colorado guide ›
Neighboring stateMissouri3 ranked game bachelor's · 8 programs in allView the Missouri guide ›
Neighboring stateOklahoma2 ranked game bachelor's · 2 programs in allView the Oklahoma guide ›
Neighboring stateNebraskaNo programs; the guide lists the nearestView the Nebraska guide ›
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Is There a Game Design Bachelor's in Kansas?
Bethany College is the top-ranked game design school in Kansas, 84 of 89 in our national ranking. It finishes 40% of its students and has an average net price of $29,571 for aided first-year students, both school-wide IPEDS figures, and the program graduates about 2 students a year. It's the only ranked game bachelor's in Kansas, out of 5 game-related programs in the state at every level. See its full profile in the state ranking.
What Does Bethany College Cost After Aid?
Bethany College has an average net price of $29,571 a year for aided first-year students (IPEDS), the price after grants rather than the published one. Published tuition is $30,700 for every student, in state or not. It is in Kansas, ranked 84 of 89 nationally, with a school-wide completion rate of 40%. Your own price depends on your family's income, so run the college's net price calculator before you compare it with others. See the state ranking.
Which Nearby States Have More Game Programs?
Colorado, Missouri and Oklahoma have more ranked game bachelor's programs than Kansas. Ranked programs by neighboring state: Colorado 3, Missouri 3, Oklahoma 2 and Nebraska 0. Crossing a state line usually means out-of-state tuition at public colleges. Kansas belongs to the Midwest Student Exchange Program (MSEP), which can cut nonresident tuition at public colleges in member states, though each college picks which programs take part. See how to choose from Kansas.
Does Kansas Participate in a Tuition Exchange?
Yes, through the Midwest Student Exchange Program (MSEP): Kansas is a member, and in the exchange's own words, "MSEP offers a discounted tuition rate with an average annual tuition savings of $7,000.." It also says: "The program is volunteer based" Each college decides which programs and how many seats take part, so check the specific game program before you count on a discount. For comparison, out-of-state tuition at Kansas's own public colleges averages $19,960 against $7,625 in state. See paying for school in Kansas.
How Much Game Education Exists in Kansas Overall?
Kansas has 5 game design, game programming, simulation and animation programs at every level in the federal data: 1 bachelor's, 4 associate and 0 graduate. They sit at 3 colleges, with the most in El Dorado (2). 1 of the bachelor's programs are ranked, led by Bethany College. An associate program at home can be a cheaper first two years before a transfer, if the four-year school accepts the credits. Beyond the state, 13 fully online game bachelor's programs are open to Kansas students. See the state ranking.
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.
