Miami's ranked options are few, private and strung along the coast, and the one at the bottom of the national list is also the one in Fort Lauderdale. Among the game design schools in Miami, University of Miami in Coral Gables, 6 miles from the center, ranks highest at 68 of 89. The other three ranked programs are Keiser University-Ft Lauderdale at 86 of 89, Palm Beach Atlantic University at 79 of 89 and Lynn University for animation at 78 of 82.
Kevin ToFounder & EditorB.S. in Computer Science, Temple UniversityUpdated
3Game Programs Within 25 Milesgame design, programming, simulation and animation, all levelsIPEDS locations
7Game Programs Within 50 Milesat 4 collegesIPEDS locations
2Ranked Game Design Bachelor's Programs Nearbyranked, within 50 miles; plus 1 animationOur ranking
University of Miami leads the metro at 50.4.4 ranked programs sit inside the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach metro. Completion is a strength at 82%, above the 59% median, but its $41,028 net price is $14,878 more than the median ranked program's.The Ranking ›
Software developers earn $132,650 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 0.62), with about 18,900 people in the occupation. In Miami, web and digital interface designers, where bls counts game designers, earn $77,730, which is 25% under the national median of $104,000.Pay ›
334 software and game publishers in the metro.Concentration 0.64, where 1.00 matches the U.S. Those publishers employ 11,156 people. The metro also has 1,774 custom programming studios and 453 film, video and animation production companies.Employers ›
In-state tuition starts at $1,987.1 public college nearby offers a game-related program.Costs ›
A one-bedroom rents for $1,763 a month.The U.S. median one-bedroom is $1,301. Rent is the big cost in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach metro: the median is $2,083 a month, $596 over the U.S. median. The lowest on-campus room and board nearby is $13,750 a year at Lynn University.Living Costs ›
Ranked in Miami
The Best Game Design Schools in Miami, FL for 2027
University of Miami scores 50.3, graduates 15 students a year in game and interactive media design, and has an 82% school-wide completion rate. It's also the most expensive on the list: $41,028 net and a published tuition of $60,720. Think of it as the only Miami-area choice ranked in the middle of the national list.
Lynn University (Boca Raton), 43 miles from the center, is the animation entry, with a score of 40.0, 11 graduates a year and a 55% completion rate. Keiser University-Ft Lauderdale graduates 6 a year and finishes 37% of its students school-wide, and Palm Beach Atlantic University (West Palm Beach) graduates just 1. Those cohorts are small, so tour them with questions about cohort size.
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 Miami.
Coral Gables, FL · Private nonprofit · Game design program · 6 miles
50.4
#68 of 89 nationally
6 miles from Miami
Highest completion in Miami
Largest program in Miami
Private
Coral Gables is 6 miles from Miami, and the program's labs draw on the region's medical and marine science schools. The Virtual Experience Simulation Lab prototypes extended reality projects with partners including Bascom Palmer, RSMAS and the Miller School of Medicine, and the Novel Experience & Responsible Design Lab sits alongside it. A course in advanced 3D character design covers modeling, rigging, animation and motion capture.
For a student based in the Miami area, the Immersive Media major is a B.S.C. with a designer track and a developer track, plus related minors in game design and user experience design. School-wide, 19,852 students are enrolled, earnings ten years after enrollment average $75,328 across all majors, and published tuition is $60,720. About 15 students a year graduate from the program, and 82% of students across the university complete within eight years.
West Palm Beach, FL · Private nonprofit · Game design program · 65 miles
41.6
#79 of 89 nationally
65 miles from Miami
Lowest net price in Miami
Private
West Palm Beach is 65 miles from Miami, which puts Palm Beach Atlantic within reach of a Miami student willing to relocate or to take the degree online. Among the ranked programs, its net price for aided first-years is the lowest in the Miami results, $31,103 across the university.
The B.A. in Gaming and Interactive Media Design teaches level design, user experience, storytelling and prototyping, and students collaborate on an original game project. Applicants need transcripts and a qualifying GPA. Published tuition is $39,400 for all students, with a cost of attendance of $62,342 before aid. Ten-year earnings average $49,232 across all majors, and the program graduates about 1 student a year. The degree takes 120 credit hours over four years full-time, and students can start in the fall or spring.
Boca Raton, FL · Private nonprofit · Animation program · 43 miles
40.1
#78 of 82 in animation
43 miles from Miami
Animation
Private
Lynn University is in Boca Raton, 43 miles from Miami, so a Miami student would be driving or living up the coast. The B.F.A. in Computer Animation has two tracks. The animation track covers advanced motion graphics, comics and sequential art, and the game art track covers the concepts of gaming, level design and digital sculpting. Both include storyboarding, 3D modeling, cinematic lighting and technical direction, built on a foundation in studio arts and classical art. Students finish with portfolios meant to capture their strongest work and are taught by experienced faculty who focus on digital storytelling and advanced computer-generated techniques.
Tuition is $42,730 for all students, the sticker cost of attendance is $71,948 before aid, and aided first-years pay a net price of $39,582. About 11 students complete the program each year. School-wide, 3,514 students attend Lynn, 73% of applicants are admitted and 55% finish within eight years. Earnings ten years out are $49,006 across all majors.
Fort Lauderdale, FL · Private nonprofit · Game design program · 29 miles
37.6
#86 of 89 nationally
29 miles from Miami
Private
Keiser's animation and game design students graduate with a portfolio meant to show studios and employers what they can do, and the school credits small class sizes for the attention they get from faculty with industry backgrounds. Courses cover 3D modeling, level design, programming languages and interactive storytelling, and the program page lists career paths in game studios, animation and visual effects.
The Fort Lauderdale campus is 29 miles from Miami, which makes this a commuting or relocating decision. Net price across the university is $33,865 for aided first-years. Ten years after enrollment, earnings average $39,696 across all majors school-wide, and 37% of students complete within eight years. Enrollment university-wide is 20,888, and about 6 students a year graduate from this program.
The rest of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL metro and the nearby areas are covered on the Florida page.
StateFlorida4 ranked game bachelor's · 13 programs in allView the Florida guide ›
More ways in
Other Game Programs in Miami
4 more programs inside the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach 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-related pay in Miami is below the national figures for most roles, and the cost of living isn't low. Software developers earn $132,650 at the metro median, $3,330 shy of the national number but $1,670 above Florida's. Computer programmers do better, $101,530, which is $1,140 over the national median and $8,350 over the state's.
Graphic designersWhere many art and UI graduates start
$61,870
$51,840–$84,820$52k–$85k$51,840 to $84,820
3,950
$61,660
$62,960
Computer programmersProgramming roles outside software development
$101,530
$79,990–$128,030$80k–$128k$79,990 to $128,030
1,100
$93,180
$100,390
Art directorsSenior art leads; rarely a first job
$103,150
$69,820–$128,520$70k–$129k$69,820 to $128,520
1,090
$99,660
$114,850
Annual wages, BLS OEWS May 2025, for the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL metropolitan area. The middle half earns between the 25th and 75th percentile.
The art and design side is the weak spot. Web and digital interface designers, a bucket that holds game designers and UI designers, earn $77,730, which is $26,270 below the national median and identical to the state. Special effects artists and animators earn $74,520, $27,510 below the national median and $11,350 below Florida's. Graphic designers earn $61,870 and art directors $103,150.
Costs run high. On a scale with 100 as the national average, Miami scores 114.2 for everyday prices and 155.6 for housing, so a $74,520 animator salary leaves less room than it would at the national price level.
Software development is a smaller share of jobs in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach metro than nationally (location quotient 0.62), with about 18,900 people in the occupation. In Miami, web and digital interface designers, where bls counts game designers, earn $77,730, which is 25% under the national median of $104,000. Prices in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach metro run 14.2% above the U.S. average on BEA's index, which takes a bite out of both pay and a student budget.
Miami's tech economy is large in raw numbers but diluted by the size of the metro. Census doesn't count game studios separately, so most are counted under software publishers, where the metro has 334 businesses and 11,156 employees. That's 64% of the national concentration, and custom programming studios land at 65% of the national concentration, so neither is a local specialty.
Industry
What it covers
Businesses
Employees
Concentration
Software and game publishers
Software publishers (game publishers and studios are filed here)
334
11,156
0.64
Custom programming studios
Custom computer programming services (contract and co-development studios)
1,774
11,341
0.65
Film, video and animation production
Motion picture and video production (animation and VFX studios)
453
1,652
0.60
Graphic design firms
Graphic design services
542
1,223
1.43
Establishments and March payroll employees in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL 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.
Where Miami does stand out is visual work. Graphic design firms are at 1.4 times the national concentration, and graphic designers (1.10) and art directors (1.14) both run above the national level. On the engineering side, developers (0.62), programmers (0.66) and effects artists and animators (0.50) are all scarcer than the national norm. Animation and video production lands at 60% of the national concentration.
In practice this favors artists and designers more than engineers. Game work exists, but it's just a small slice of a very large regional economy, and programmers may find more openings by looking beyond the metro or working remotely.
How Common Game-Adjacent Jobs Are in Miami
Occupation
Jobs per 1,000
Location quotient
Software developers
6.70
0.62
Web and digital interface designers
0.45
0.61
Special effects artists and animators
0.07
0.50
Graphic designers
1.40
1.10
Computer programmers
0.39
0.66
Art directors
0.39
1.14
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 Miami Produces
Programs within 50 miles of Miami graduate 108 people a year, 32 of them with bachelor's degrees, and every one of those programs sits inside the metro. Set beside 20,330 core jobs, the metro share is 0.5%. Most of the volume comes from Miami Dade College, where the animation and interactive technology associate program turns out 46 a year and the game and interactive media design associate adds 24. University of Miami contributes 15 bachelor's graduates a year in game and interactive media design.
The largest of them by graduates a year are the programs in the ranking and the other programs above, led by Miami Dade College with about 46 a year.
That share is a rough guide, not a hiring forecast. The core jobs include every software developer and interface designer in the metro, and most of them work outside games. Graduates also scatter: plenty relocate, and others land in general design or software roles. The local pipeline is small and mostly two-year, and a bachelor's route here is a narrow one.
Cost near Miami
Paying for School in Miami
Only one public college sits within 50 miles: Miami Dade College, in Florida, 1 mile from the center. Florida residents pay $1,987 and out-of-state students $7,947, a gap of $5,960, and the school-wide net price is $5,367. There's no public four-year program on our ranked list, so a bachelor's means a private school.
The public colleges within 50 miles that offer a game-related program, all in Florida. 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).
Florida's grant is Bright Futures, administered by the Florida Department of Education, Office of Student Financial Assistance, so check your eligibility before pricing a private campus. There is no undergraduate regional tuition exchange here. The published tuition at the private schools runs from $23,856 at Keiser University-Ft Lauderdale to $60,720 at University of Miami, though net prices land lower.
State Aid in Florida
Florida's main merit program for undergraduates is the Bright Futures, run by the Florida Department of Education, Office of Student Financial Assistance. In its own words: "The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program establishes lottery-funded scholarships to reward Florida high school graduates for high academic achievement." The Florida page covers state aid and public college costs in more detail.
Tuition Exchanges
Florida 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 Miami as a Student
Miami rents run well above the national figure. Median rent in the metro is $2,083, topping the U.S. median of $1,487 by $596. For a one-bedroom, figure $1,763 monthly and $21,156 across twelve months, compared with $1,301 a month for the U.S. Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,149 comes to about $1,075 per person.
Monthly rent
Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach metro
U.S.
All rentals, median
$2,083
$1,487
One bedroom, median
$1,763
$1,301
Two bedrooms, median
$2,149
$1,490
Median gross rent (rent plus utilities the tenant pays), American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, tables B25064 and B25031.
The price level for housing is 155.6 and the overall metro level is 114.2, both against a national average of 100. Three nearby colleges report on-campus room and board: Lynn University at $13,750, Keiser University-Ft Lauderdale at $15,650 and University of Miami at $21,580. Miami Dade College has no campus housing, and its own estimate for living off campus is $26,406, which is higher than any dorm figure here.
Rent is the big cost in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach metro: the median is $2,083 a month, $596 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.
The mix is design-heavy: three ranked game programs, all game design programs, and a single animation program. None of them is a programming track, so if you want to write gameplay code, you'd pair a computer science degree with a design minor or look at online options.
Public versus private barely applies to bachelor's programs here. University of Miami is $41,028 net, Palm Beach Atlantic University $31,103, Lynn University $39,582 and Keiser University-Ft Lauderdale $33,865, so the cheapest ranked option still costs more than every online alternative. The lowest-cost route is Miami Dade College.
For commuting, University of Miami at 6 miles is the only practical daily trip from the center, and the others are 29, 43 and 65 miles away in a straight line. Game studios in the region give a Miami address places to ask about internships.
Admission is rarely the hard part here: 1 of the 4 colleges on this page admits anyone with a high school diploma, and among the rest fall 2024 admission ran from 19% at University of Miami to 97% at Keiser University-Ft Lauderdale. None requires SAT or ACT scores.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Are the Best Game Design Schools Near Miami?
University of Miami is the top-ranked game design school in Miami, scoring 50.4 and ranked 68 of 89 nationally. Completion is a strength at 82%, above the 59% median, but its $41,028 net price is $14,878 more than the median ranked program's. About 15 students a year graduate from it, a mid-sized program by the ranking's standards. Palm Beach Atlantic University is next at 41.6, one of 4 ranked programs in the metro. The cheapest ranked option in the metro is Palm Beach Atlantic University at $31,103, with 56% completion. See the ranked programs.
What Can I Earn in Game Development in Miami?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that counts game programmers, earn a median of $132,650 in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach metro, against $135,980 nationally (BLS May 2025). In the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach metro, web and digital interface designers, where game designers are counted, earn $77,730, which is 25% under the national median of $104,000. Prices in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach metro run 14.2% 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 Miami.
How Much Is Miami Dade College for a Florida Resident?
Miami Dade College is 1 miles from central Miami. Published tuition is $1,987 for in-state students and $7,947 out of state. It offers an animation program at the associate level that our ranking doesn't score. The program graduates about 46 students a year. It admits any high school graduate, so the program is open to you without an application contest. See the ranked programs.
Is a Daily Commute to a Miami-Area Campus Realistic?
4 ranked programs sit inside the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach metro, and 4 associate, graduate or certificate programs add other ways in. University of Miami scores highest, at 50.4. The top program is 6 miles from central Miami, close enough to commute if housing nearby is out of reach. 3 game-related programs sit within 25 miles of central Miami and 7 within 50, counting every level. The rest of the metro and the nearby areas are on the Florida page. See the ranked programs.
What Are the Odds of Getting Into a Game Design School in Miami?
Admission is rarely the hard part here: 1 of the 4 colleges on this page admits anyone with a high school diploma, and among the rest fall 2024 admission ran from 19% at University of Miami to 97% at Keiser University-Ft Lauderdale. 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 Miami Dade College, 1 miles from central Miami. The median published rate among them is 73%. Each program card shows its college's admission rate where one is reported. See how to choose a program.
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.
