The game design schools in Ohio split into two public and three private ranked bachelor's programs. Miami University-Oxford ranks highest at 21 of 89, a game programming degree with 30 graduates a year, and University of Cincinnati-Main Campus is next at 22 of 89. Shawnee State University adds an animation bachelor's at a net price of $14,815.
Kevin ToFounder & EditorB.S. in Computer Science, Temple UniversityUpdated
Miami University-Oxford leads at 71.7.5 ranked programs in Ohio, scored on completion, net price and size. It finishes 82% of its students and has a $27,928 net price. University of Cincinnati-Main Campus is next at 71.5.The Ranking ›
Software developers earn $114,090 here.The U.S. median for the same job is $135,980. About 44,790 people work as software developers in Ohio. In Ohio, web and digital interface designers, where bls counts game designers, earn $83,360, which is 20% under the national median of $104,000. Living costs work in your favor in Ohio: BEA puts prices 7.2% 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 Ohio: BEA puts prices 7.2% below the U.S. average, so a paycheck or a student budget goes further.Prices ›
Public in-state tuition averages $7,483.The Ohio College Opportunity Grant is Ohio's main state grant. Ohio's public four-year colleges are a good deal: aided in-state students pay $11,630 on average across 48, under the $13,240 median state. Out of state, tuition averages $16,194.Costs ›
City guides: Columbus, Cleveland and more.Each ranks the programs nearby with distances, and covers local pay, the software and media employers in the metro, how many graduates compete for jobs, and rent.City Guides ›
Ohio in brief
Key Facts About Studying Game Design in Ohio
Public and private are nearly balanced. The two public programs are Miami University-Oxford, a game programming program with an 82% completion rate and a $27,928 net price, and University of Cincinnati-Main Campus, a simulation program at $21,511 with a 72% completion rate.
The three private programs are all game design, and they're small. Heidelberg University ranks 45 of 89 and graduates one student a year, Columbus College of Art & Design ranks 63 of 89 with six, and Cleveland Institute of Art ranks 73 of 89 with seven. Across the state, 11 game-related programs sit at nine colleges, including two associate programs and one graduate program.
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 Ohio
The 5 Best Game Design Schools in Ohio for 2027
Miami University-Oxford leads, ranked 21 of 89 in the national game design ranking, with a completion rate of 82% and an average net price of $27,928. 2 of the 5 are public. The best game design schools ranking shows how these compare with every school in the country.
Each ranked program in Ohio, in rank order: 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.
Ohio students get the in-state rate of $14,420 a year at Miami University, where the Games + Simulation B.S. is the largest game program in the state, graduating about 30 students annually. Oxford is a town setting, and the university has the highest completion in Ohio on this list: 82% of entering students finish within eight years school-wide.
The major spans game art, game design and game development, and it is built with the Art and Computer Science departments. Net price for aided first-years is $27,928 across the university, earnings ten years after entry average $55,076 across all majors, and the admit rate is 75%. An Ohio resident saves $21,446 a year in tuition compared with a nonresident. The SAT midpoint is 1305 across the university.
Ohio residents get the in-state tuition rate of $11,685 a year at a city campus with 45,026 students. The B.F.A. in Games & Animation combines courses from Arts and Sciences with the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning, and it expects only a 2.5 GPA and no portfolio, which opens the door to students who have never made a game or an animation.
Co-op is built in, so Ohio students can alternate study with two semesters of full-time industry experience in the state or beyond. Aided first-years pay a net price of $21,511 school-wide, and the cost of attendance is $35,764 before aid. School-wide, 72% of entering students finish within eight years and the admit rate is 85%. The program itself graduates about 11 students a year.
Tiffin, OH · Private nonprofit · Game design program
59.5
#45 of 89 nationally
Lowest net price in Ohio
Private
Tiffin, Ohio is one of the few town campuses among the schools on this list, and Heidelberg's Video Game Production program uses that small-school scale. The GEM Center (Gaming, eSports, Media) lets students work with the university's radio and TV stations, on air or behind the scenes. A minor adds computer programming, visual communication, Video Game Production, Advanced Video Game Production and a course on representation and identity in games.
For Ohio residents, the numbers are the same as for anyone else, since the university is private with published tuition of $32,900. School-wide net price for aided first-years is $19,620 against a cost of attendance of $48,950. About 1 student a year finishes this program. Across the university, 58% complete within eight years, enrollment is 1,091, and earnings ten years after enrollment average $48,466 across all majors.
Columbus, OH · Private nonprofit · Game design program
52.1
#63 of 89 nationally
Private
The BFA in Game Art & Design starts in the first year with 2D Creative Practice, Systems of Drawing, Intro to Game Art with History and Drawing for Entertainment Design, then adds courses such as Programming for Play, where students show three game prototypes they programmed with visual scripting. Students have made games with real-world reach, including Smokey's Scouts, a free mobile game built with the USDA Forest Service, and an award-winning entry in an international Climate Game Jam.
Ohio residents get no tuition break here: CCAD is private, so published tuition is $40,825 for everyone. School-wide net price for aided first-years is $30,900, and 68% of applicants are admitted. The campus is in a city setting in Columbus, with Mac and PC labs, Cintiq tablets and 3D printers. Graduating classes run about 6 students, and 63% of students across the college finish within eight years.
Cleveland, OH · Private nonprofit · Game design program
47.6
#73 of 89 nationally
Private
Game Design at Cleveland Institute of Art is a private-college route inside Ohio, so in-state residents pay the same $45,600 tuition as anyone else. Aid shifts the picture: the average net price for aided first-years is $33,527 across the college, and 58% of entering students complete a degree within eight years school-wide.
The city campus is home to a small program of about 7 graduates a year. Alumni examples on the program page include a 3D designer, a senior UI/UX designer and a professor who chairs a game art and design department, so the degree points toward design and teaching as well as studio work. The admit rate is 61%, and total enrollment is 545 students. Admission is through a standard application, with spring and fall starts.
Animation bachelor's programs in Ohio, scored the same way and listed in score order. Completion and net price are school-wide IPEDS figures; grads a year is the program's 2022-2024 average.
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.
Ohio pays below the national median in every game-adjacent role, but the shortfall is smallest for graphic design. Programmers are counted with software developers, and Ohio has 44,790 of them at a median of $114,090, well under the national median by $21,890. Designers in the web and digital interface group earn $83,360, $20,640 below the national median.
Graphic designersWhere many art and UI graduates start
$60,080
$47,380–$77,150$47k–$77k$47,380 to $77,150
7,280
$62,960
Computer programmersProgramming roles outside software development
$85,270
$67,830–$107,100$68k–$107k$67,830 to $107,100
2,100
$100,390
Art directorsSenior art leads; rarely a first job
$94,390
$77,570–$120,430$78k–$120k$77,570 to $120,430
1,050
$114,850
Annual wages, BLS OEWS May 2025. The middle half earns between the 25th and 75th percentile.
Pay in Ohio's Largest Metro Areas
Metro area
Software developers
Web and digital interface designers
Special effects artists and animators
Price level
Columbus, OH
$122,340
$96,010
Not published
95.5
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN
$121,420
$82,820
$67,710
95.4
Cleveland, OH
$111,310
$86,340
$62,370May 2024
93.9
Median annual wages, BLS OEWS May 2025, for the state's largest metropolitan areas by total employment. Price level is BEA's Regional Price Parity for 2024, where the U.S. average is 100. Figures tagged May 2024 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.
Outside software, computer programmers earn $85,270, and graphic designers earn $60,080, or $2,880 under the national median. Art directors earn $94,390. The animation group has just 200 jobs at a $67,000 median, $35,030 below the national median. QA testing, junior design, art and UI roles and junior programming are the usual first jobs, and they pay below these medians.
Columbus is the metro to watch for design: designers in that group earn $96,010 there, against $82,820 in Cincinnati and $86,340 in Cleveland. Cincinnati is the only metro that publishes an animator wage, $67,710, and it also leads for computer programmers at $101,640. Software developers earn $122,340 in Columbus, $121,420 in Cincinnati and $111,310 in Cleveland.
Ohio is cheap to live in. Ohio's BEA price level is 92.8, so everyday costs run about 7.2% under the national average, and the three big metros run from 93.9 in Cleveland to 95.5 in Columbus. A Columbus software salary of $122,340 goes a long way.
About 44,790 people work as software developers in Ohio. In Ohio, web and digital interface designers, where bls counts game designers, earn $83,360, which is 20% under the national median of $104,000. Living costs work in your favor in Ohio: BEA puts prices 7.2% 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 Ohio
Paying for School in Ohio
Ohio's 48 public four-year colleges bill residents $7,483 in tuition and outsiders $16,194, $8,711 more for outsiders. In-state students with aid average a $11,630 net price. At the public game schools, residents average $11,685 in tuition and nonresidents average $27,019, a gap of $15,334, so staying put is worth real money.
Public colleges in OH
Figure
Public four-year colleges
48
Average in-state tuition
$7,483
Average out-of-state tuition
$16,194
Average net price, aided in-state students
$11,630
Means across Ohio's public four-year degree-granting colleges that offer undergraduate study: tuition from IPEDS for 2023-24 (48 colleges reporting), net price for 2022-23 (48 reporting). Net price is what first-year students with grant aid paid after grants.
Ohio's public four-year colleges are a good deal: aided in-state students pay $11,630 on average across 48, under the $13,240 median state.
State need-based aid comes through the Ohio College Opportunity Grant, administered by the Ohio Department of Higher Education, so file aid forms early and ask each school how it stacks with its own awards, since the combined package is what sets your real cost. Ohio is also in the Midwest Student Exchange Program, and Indiana has a public game program nearby, so MSEP pricing is worth checking across the Indiana line. Game and animation bachelor schools in Ohio have a median net price of $29,414.
State Aid in Ohio
Ohio's main need program for undergraduates is the Ohio College Opportunity Grant, run by the Ohio Department of Higher Education. In its own words: "Ohio residents in an associate degree, first bachelor's degree, or nurse diploma program at an eligible Ohio or Pennsylvania institution with an SAI (Student Aid Index) of $3,750 or less" Fill out the FAFSA early, since many state programs award money until it runs out.
Tuition Exchanges
Ohio 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"
The public schools give you two different degrees. Miami University-Oxford is code-first, a game programming program that graduates 30 a year. University of Cincinnati-Main Campus is simulation at a lower net price of $21,511, and it also offers an online IT degree with a game development and simulation concentration.
For design, the choices are private. Heidelberg University has the lowest net price among them at $19,620, ahead of Columbus College of Art & Design at $30,900 and Cleveland Institute of Art at $33,527. Shawnee State University, at $14,815 net and a score of 68.0, is the animation route, not a game design degree.
Ohio residents save a lot by staying: tuition of $11,685 versus $27,019 for outsiders at the public game schools, a $15,334 gap. If you look across the border, Pennsylvania has seven bachelor's programs, Michigan has three, Indiana has one and West Virginia has one, and Kentucky has none.
Neighboring States
Neighboring statePennsylvania5 ranked game bachelor's · 10 programs in allView the Pennsylvania guide ›
Neighboring stateMichigan3 ranked game bachelor's · 10 programs in allView the Michigan guide ›
Neighboring stateIndiana1 ranked game bachelor's · 3 programs in allView the Indiana guide ›
Neighboring stateWest Virginia1 ranked game bachelor's · 1 programs in allView the West Virginia guide ›
Neighboring stateKentucky1 related programs, no game bachelor'sView the Kentucky guide ›
City guides
Cities in Ohio
3 cities in Ohio have their own guides, ranking every program inside the metro and within 50 miles of the city center, with distances, metro pay and nearby public college costs.
Columbus, OH4 programs within 50 miles · 1 ranked game bachelor'sView the Columbus guide ›
Cleveland, OH3 programs within 50 miles · 1 ranked game bachelor'sView the Cleveland guide ›
Youngstown, OH1 program within 50 miles · 0 ranked game bachelor'sView the Youngstown guide ›
Miami University-Oxford is the top-ranked game design school in Ohio, 21 of 89 in our national ranking, followed by University of Cincinnati-Main Campus at 22. It finishes 82% of its students and has an average net price of $27,928 for aided first-year students, both school-wide IPEDS figures, and the program graduates about 30 students a year. The cheapest ranked option is Heidelberg University at $19,620, though it finishes 58% of students. Out-of-state students pay $21,446 more a year in published tuition there. See all 5 ranked Ohio programs in the state ranking.
What Do Game Design Jobs Pay in Ohio?
In Ohio, web and digital interface designers, where bls counts game designers, earn $83,360, which is 20% under the national median of $104,000. Software developers, the BLS occupation that counts game programmers, earn a median of $114,090 in Ohio, against $135,980 nationally (BLS May 2025). Living costs work in your favor in Ohio: BEA puts prices 7.2% below the U.S. average, so a paycheck or a student budget goes further. About 44,790 people work as software developers in Ohio. See what game jobs pay in Ohio.
Which Ohio Program Has the Lowest Net Price?
The lowest-priced ranked option in Ohio is Heidelberg University, at an average net price of $19,620 a year for aided first-year students. The catch is completion: 58% of its students finish, under the 59% median, and a program you don't finish costs more than its sticker. Public in-state tuition in Ohio averages $7,483, if a related program at home fits. See paying for school in Ohio.
Can I Get In-State Tuition Outside Ohio?
Yes, through the Midwest Student Exchange Program (MSEP): Ohio 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 Ohio's own public colleges averages $16,194 against $7,483 in state. See paying for school in Ohio.
Is Ohio Cheap to Live In?
Ohio is cheaper than average to live in: overall prices run at 92.8 on BEA's Regional Price Parities, where the U.S. average is 100, and housing at 73. Housing pulls the cost down most, at 73 on BEA's housing index against 100 nationally. Ohio's public four-year colleges are a good deal: aided in-state students pay $11,630 on average across 48, under the $13,240 median state. The city guides show local rent and room and board. See what game jobs pay in Ohio.
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.
