Plan on a trade-off when you search for game design schools near Milwaukee. The city has one ranked program, an animation bachelor's at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, five miles from the city center, and no ranked game design bachelor's within 50 miles. The one ranked game design degree is in Chicago, 84 miles away. This page therefore looks out to 100 miles, and for most of those options you'd be moving or accepting a very long commute.
Kevin ToFounder & EditorB.S. in Computer Science, Temple UniversityUpdated
3Game Programs Within 25 Milesgame design, programming, simulation and animation, all levelsIPEDS locations
3Game Programs Within 50 Milesabout an hour outIPEDS locations
15Game Programs Within 100 Milesat 12 colleges; 1 ranked game bachelor'sIPEDS locations
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee leads the metro at 69.8.One ranked program sits inside the Milwaukee and Waukesha metro. Price is its strength: aided first-year students pay $16,499, $9,651 under the ranking's median, though 53% completion trails the 59% median.The Ranking ›
Software developers earn $123,730 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 0.69), with about 6,170 people in the occupation. Pay for web and digital interface designers, where bls counts game designers, in Milwaukee sits close to the national median: $100,710 against $104,000.Pay ›
57 software and game publishers in the metro.Concentration 1.17, where 1.00 matches the U.S. Those publishers employ 6,553 people. The metro also has 260 custom programming studios and 48 film, video and animation production companies.Employers ›
In-state tuition starts at $4,462.9 public colleges nearby offer a game-related program. The highest in-state tuition nearby is $12,090, so where you enroll changes the bill a lot.Costs ›
A one-bedroom rents for $1,015 a month.The U.S. median one-bedroom is $1,301. Rent helps here, at a $1,177 monthly median in the Milwaukee and Waukesha metro, $310 under the national figure. The lowest on-campus room and board nearby is $8,658 a year at Milwaukee Area Technical College.Living Costs ›
Ranked in Milwaukee
The Best Game Design Schools in Milwaukee, WI for 2027
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is the only ranked program inside the metro. Its animation program holds spot 26 of 82 at 69.8 points, and it graduates nine students a year. It's a public school, so Wisconsin residents pay $8,772 in tuition against $20,772 for everyone else.
Keep the school-wide numbers in perspective. The completion rate of 53% and the net price of $16,499 describe the whole university, not the animation program. There's no ranked programming or game design track here, so if you want to build games rather than animate them, you'll likely look farther out.
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 Milwaukee.
Milwaukee, WI · Public · Animation program · 5 miles
69.8
#26 of 82 in animation
5 miles from Milwaukee
Animation
Public
UW-Milwaukee puts its Animation Arts B.F.A. in a public city university just 5 miles from Milwaukee, so students can live in town or commute. The program is STEM-designated and more production-intensive than the school's B.A. in animation. Students start in the first year with techniques from experimental to commercial, use a new 3D Animation Lab in Kenilworth Square East, and make animated shorts, reels and a yearlong senior film that debuts at the annual Animation Showcase. Internships add professional connections.
Cost is where the Milwaukee angle gets strong. In-state tuition is $8,772 versus $20,772 for out-of-state students, the sticker cost of attendance is $26,624, and aided first-years pay a net price of $16,499. About 9 students complete the program each year. Across the university, 22,450 students are enrolled, 91% of applicants are admitted and 53% finish within eight years, with earnings of $54,990 ten years out.
The rest of the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI metro and the nearby areas are covered on the Wisconsin page.
StateWisconsin1 ranked game bachelor's · 7 programs in allView the Wisconsin guide ›
More ways in
Other Game Programs in Milwaukee
3 more programs inside the Milwaukee and Waukesha 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).
Pay in Milwaukee sits below the national figures for most game jobs. Software developers, who include game programmers and engine developers, earn a metro median of $123,730. That's short of the national median by $12,250, though $1,070 over the state median. The metro employs 6,170 of them, and the middle half earns $99,990 to $138,590.
Graphic designersWhere many art and UI graduates start
$61,780
$49,140–$75,480$49k–$75k$49,140 to $75,480
1,200
$59,900
$62,960
Computer programmersProgramming roles outside software development
$85,280May 2025
$68,040–$106,280$68k–$106k$68,040 to $106,280, May 2025May 2025
580May 2025
$109,580May 2024
$100,390
Art directorsSenior art leads; rarely a first job
$91,260
$72,890–$114,550$73k–$115k$72,890 to $114,550
260
$81,130
$114,850
BLS doesn't publish special effects artists and animators pay for the Milwaukee and Waukesha metro. Nationally, the median is $102,030. See animator salary › Annual wages, BLS OEWS May 2025, for the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI 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 Milwaukee and Waukesha metro in the current release.
The category covering game designers and UI designers, web and digital interface designers, has a median of $100,710, short of the national figure by $3,290 yet $5,370 ahead of the state's. Computer programmers earn $85,280, $15,110 below the national median, and art directors earn $91,260. BLS doesn't publish a Milwaukee median for special effects artists and animators, so there's no local number for the field the city's one ranked program feeds.
Living costs soften the gap. The metro price level is 96.9, which means prices below the national average of 100, and housing sits at 97.1. Graphic designers, a common starting job for art graduates, earn a median of $61,780.
Software development is a smaller share of jobs in the Milwaukee and Waukesha metro than nationally (location quotient 0.69), with about 6,170 people in the occupation. Pay for web and digital interface designers, where bls counts game designers, in Milwaukee sits close to the national median: $100,710 against $104,000. Living costs work in your favor in the Milwaukee and Waukesha metro: BEA puts prices 3.1% below the U.S. average, so a paycheck or a student budget goes further.
Milwaukee is a modest market for game work. Census files most studios under software publishers, not as a separate industry, and locally it holds 57 businesses and 6,553 employees, which is 1.2 times the national concentration. Contract and co-development shops, counted as custom programming, number 260 businesses at 82% of the national concentration.
Industry
What it covers
Businesses
Employees
Concentration
Software and game publishers
Software publishers (game publishers and studios are filed here)
57
6,553
1.17
Custom programming studios
Custom computer programming services (contract and co-development studios)
260
4,613
0.82
Film, video and animation production
Motion picture and video production (animation and VFX studios)
48
126
0.14
Graphic design firms
Graphic design services
71
332
1.21
Establishments and March payroll employees in the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI 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.
Film, video and animation production is nearly absent at 14% of the national concentration, with just 126 employees. That matters if you're an animator. The occupation numbers say the same thing: software developers are less common in the metro than nationally, with a location quotient of 0.69, and web and digital interface designers sit at 0.40.
The better signs are computer programmers, at 1.18 and more common than nationally, and graphic designers at 1.15. For a studio job in games, expect to relocate or work remotely, and treat Milwaukee's programming and design employers as a way in rather than a game industry.
How Common Game-Adjacent Jobs Are in Milwaukee
Occupation
Jobs per 1,000
Location quotient
Software developers
7.52
0.69
Web and digital interface designers
0.29
0.40
Graphic designers
1.46
1.15
Computer programmers
0.70
1.18
Art directors
0.32
0.94
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 Milwaukee Produces
Colleges within 100 miles graduate 383 people a year from game-related programs, and 289 are bachelor's graduates. Inside the metro, the count is much smaller at 37 a year. Inside the metro, Milwaukee Area Technical College leads with 21 associate graduates a year in animation, then the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with nine in animation and the technical college's game programming program with eight.
The 10 largest game-related programs within 100 miles of central Milwaukee by graduates a year, IPEDS completions averaged 2022 to 2024:
Those 37 local graduates equal 0.6% of the 6,410 core jobs in the metro. Core jobs mean software developers, web and digital interface designers and animators, and most of them aren't in games. Graduates also leave, and others arrive, so the share shows only how crowded the local entry point is. It's low, but the bigger pipeline sits in the Chicago area, not in Milwaukee.
Cost near Milwaukee
Paying for School in Milwaukee
Two public options sit in Wisconsin and close to the city. Milwaukee Area Technical College charges $4,485 for residents and $6,728 for others, with a net price of $9,047. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is $8,772 if you live in Wisconsin and $20,772 if you don't, which adds $12,000 for non-residents, and its net price is $16,499. Moraine Park Technical College is $4,462 in state, and Madison Area Technical College is $4,485.
The public colleges within 100 miles that offer a game-related program. 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).
The Wisconsin Grant, from the Wisconsin Higher Educational Aids Board, is the state aid to look up. Some community colleges farther out are in Illinois, such as Elgin Community College, where Wisconsin residents pay the out-of-state rate. The Midwest Student Exchange Program (MSEP) is the tuition exchange to ask each school about.
State Aid in Wisconsin
Wisconsin's main need program for undergraduates is the Wisconsin Grant, run by the Wisconsin Higher Educational Aids Board. In its own words: "The Wisconsin Grant (WG-PNP) Program provides grant assistance to undergraduate, Wisconsin residents enrolled in a degree or certificate program" The Wisconsin page covers state aid and public college costs in more detail.
Tuition Exchanges
Wisconsin 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"
Living costs
Living in Milwaukee as a Student
Milwaukee is cheap for a metro this size. Median rent is $1,177, which is $310 below the U.S. median. For a one-bedroom you'd pay $1,015 a month, which is $12,180 over twelve months, while a roommate split of a two-bedroom costs $597 apiece. The overall price level is 96.9, below the national average of 100.
Monthly rent
Milwaukee and Waukesha metro
U.S.
All rentals, median
$1,177
$1,487
One bedroom, median
$1,015
$1,301
Two bedrooms, median
$1,193
$1,490
Median gross rent (rent plus utilities the tenant pays), American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, tables B25064 and B25031.
On campus, Milwaukee Area Technical College charges $8,658 for room and board and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee $10,980. Farther out, Elmhurst University is $11,858, Columbia College Chicago $16,838 and DePaul University $18,468. Most community colleges in range have no campus housing, among them Moraine Park Technical College, plus Madison Area Technical College.
Rent helps here, at a $1,177 monthly median in the Milwaukee and Waukesha metro, $310 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.
Start with what you want to make. The ranked options here lean toward art: one animation bachelor's close to home and a handful in Illinois, with the one ranked game design degree coming from Columbia College Chicago, 84 miles out. Computer game programming shows up only as an associate program at Milwaukee Area Technical College.
On cost, the public school in the city is the cheaper path, and the Chicago-area private schools cost more. DePaul University has a net price of $32,129, against $16,499 at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Columbia College Chicago sits at $29,790, and its published tuition is $32,272.
Living at home and commuting works only for the two Milwaukee schools. Everything in the Chicago area is 81 to 89 miles in a straight line, which in practice means relocating. Both Milwaukee schools have campus housing, so even a short move out from the city is an option.
Admission is rarely the hard part here: 1 of the 2 colleges on this page admits anyone with a high school diploma; University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee admitted 91% of applicants for fall 2024. None requires SAT or ACT scores.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Game Design Schools Near Milwaukee Rank Best?
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has the top-ranked program near Milwaukee, an animation bachelor's scoring 69.8. Price is its strength: aided first-year students pay $16,499, $9,651 under the ranking's median, though 53% completion trails the 59% median. About 9 students a year graduate from it, a mid-sized program by the ranking's standards. It is the only ranked game bachelor's in the metro. See the ranked programs.
What Does a Milwaukee Game Programmer Earn?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that counts game programmers, earn a median of $123,730 in the Milwaukee and Waukesha metro, against $135,980 nationally (BLS May 2025). Pay for web and digital interface designers, where game designers are counted, in the Milwaukee and Waukesha metro sits close to the national median: $100,710 against $104,000. Living costs work in your favor in the Milwaukee and Waukesha metro: BEA puts prices 3.1% below the U.S. average, so a paycheck or a student budget goes further. See what game jobs pay in Milwaukee.
What Is In-State Tuition at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee?
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has an average net price of $16,499 a year for aided first-year students (IPEDS), the price after grants rather than the published one. Published tuition is $8,772 for in-state students and $20,772 out of state. It is 5 miles from central Milwaukee, with a school-wide completion rate of 53%. About 9 students a year graduate from it, a mid-sized program by the ranking's standards. See the ranked programs.
How Far Do I Have to Go for a Game Design Degree From Milwaukee?
1 ranked program sit inside the Milwaukee and Waukesha metro, and 3 associate, graduate or certificate programs add other ways in. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee scores highest, at 69.8. The top program is 5 miles from central Milwaukee, close enough to commute if housing nearby is out of reach. 3 game-related programs sit within 25 miles of central Milwaukee and 3 within 50, counting every level. The rest of the metro and the nearby areas are on the Wisconsin page. See the ranked programs.
How Much Is In-State Tuition Near Milwaukee?
In-state tuition at public colleges near Milwaukee starts at $4,462 a year, at Moraine Park Technical College, and runs up to $8,772 at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Nonresidents pay $6,727 at Moraine Park Technical College. 9 public colleges within 100 miles offer a game-related program, and private colleges charge every student the same tuition. After grants, Moraine Valley Community College has the lowest average net price nearby, $1,704, under the $13,240 public average in the median state. See paying for school in Milwaukee.
Keep exploring
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CityChicago, IL86 mi from Milwaukee · 11 programs within 50 miles · 1 ranked game bachelor'sView the Chicago 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.
