Looking at game design schools near Oklahoma City, you get one campus in town and one at the far edge of the search. Oklahoma City University sits 3 miles from the city center and holds a ranked game and interactive media design program. The University of Tulsa, with a modeling and simulation program, is 100 miles away. Both are private, so there's no cheap public route, but living costs in the metro run well below the national average.
Kevin ToFounder & EditorB.S. in Computer Science, Temple UniversityUpdated
1Game Program Within 25 Milesgame design, programming, simulation and animation, all levelsIPEDS locations
1Game Program Within 50 Milesabout an hour outIPEDS locations
2Game Programs Within 100 Milesat 2 colleges; 2 ranked game bachelor'sIPEDS locations
Game Design Schools Near Oklahoma City in 60 Seconds
Oklahoma City University leads the metro at 57.6.One ranked program sits inside the Oklahoma City metro. Price is its strength: aided first-year students pay $23,143, $3,007 under the ranking's median, though 58% completion trails the 59% median.The Ranking ›
Software developers earn $122,390 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 0.52), with about 3,820 people in the occupation. In Oklahoma City, web and digital interface designers, where bls counts game designers, earn $70,610, which is 32% under the national median of $104,000.Pay ›
36 software and game publishers in the metro.Concentration 0.17, where 1.00 matches the U.S. Those publishers employ 664 people. The metro also has 199 custom programming studios and 37 film, video and animation production companies.Employers ›
Every program nearby is at a private college.There's no in-state rate to qualify for within 100 miles.Costs ›
A one-bedroom rents for $925 a month.The U.S. median one-bedroom is $1,301. Rent helps here, at a $1,162 monthly median in the Oklahoma City metro, $325 under the national figure. The lowest on-campus room and board nearby is $9,602 a year at Oklahoma City University.Living Costs ›
Ranked in Oklahoma City
The Best Game Design Schools in Oklahoma City, OK for 2027
Oklahoma City University is the only ranked program inside the metro. It's a private nonprofit, 3 miles from the city center, and its program is a game design program. It lands at 50 of 89 on our best game design schools list, scoring 57.6, which puts it in the lower half of the national ranking.
The program graduates about three students a year, so it's a very small cohort. Published tuition is $29,804. Net price comes to $23,143 and completion to 58%, both measured across the whole school. Those last two are college-wide figures, not numbers for the game program alone.
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 Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma City, OK · Private nonprofit · Game design program · 3 miles
57.6
#50 of 89 nationally
3 miles from Oklahoma City
Private
The campus is 3 miles from downtown Oklahoma City, and the department equips it with a VICON motion capture lab, Oculus and VIVE virtual reality headsets, MagicLeap and Hololens augmented reality devices, Wacom and canvas tablets, and Mac and Alienware computers. Graduates are described as proficient in 3D animation, game audio and music composition, interactive narrative, and artificial intelligence in games.
For local students living at home, the Game Design and Animation major offers the OCU scholarship, with a school-wide net price of $23,143 for aided first-years against a $52,312 cost of attendance. The university enrolls 2,966 students, admits 77% of applicants, and sees 58% complete within eight years. Earnings ten years after enrollment average $54,655 across all majors, and the SAT midpoint is 1155.
The rest of the Oklahoma City, OK metro and the nearby areas are covered on the Oklahoma page.
StateOklahoma2 ranked game bachelor's · 2 programs in allView the Oklahoma guide ›
Pay in Oklahoma City
What Game Jobs Pay in Oklahoma City
Software developers are the best-paid game job in Oklahoma City. The $122,390 median lags the national median by $13,590 but tops the state median by $4,290, and 3,820 people hold those jobs. That category includes game programmers and engine developers, so it's the strongest pay signal for a programming-minded student.
$52,600–$61,690$53k–$62k$52,600 to $61,690, May 2023May 2023
50May 2023
$66,980May 2025
$102,030
Graphic designersWhere many art and UI graduates start
$50,300
$35,530–$64,480$36k–$64k$35,530 to $64,480
1,080
$53,630
$62,960
Computer programmersProgramming roles outside software development
$92,790
$76,280–$127,860$76k–$128k$76,280 to $127,860
420
$99,780
$100,390
Art directorsSenior art leads; rarely a first job
$80,680
$77,030–$100,300$77k–$100k$77,030 to $100,300
150
$80,680
$114,850
Annual wages, BLS OEWS May 2025, for the Oklahoma City, OK metropolitan area. The middle half earns between the 25th and 75th percentile. Figures tagged May 2023 are from that earlier BLS release, because BLS didn't publish one for the Oklahoma City metro in the current release.
Design and art pay less. Pay for web and digital interface designers, the bucket that counts game designers and UI designers, is $70,610, trailing the national median by $33,390 and the state median by $5,830. Graphic designers earn $50,300, $12,660 below the national median. Art directors reach $80,680, and computer programmers $92,790, which is $6,990 below the state median.
BLS publishes no metro figure for special effects artists and animators, so animation pay here is a blank. The cost side helps: the metro price level is 90.4 against a national 100, and housing sits at 73.9.
Software development is a smaller share of jobs in the Oklahoma City metro than nationally (location quotient 0.52), with about 3,820 people in the occupation. In Oklahoma City, web and digital interface designers, where bls counts game designers, earn $70,610, which is 32% under the national median of $104,000. Living costs work in your favor in the Oklahoma City metro: BEA puts prices 9.6% below the U.S. average, so a paycheck or a student budget goes further.
Oklahoma City's tech base leans toward contract work. Custom programming studios hold 199 businesses and 2,004 employees at 50% of the national concentration, the strongest of the game-related lines. Most game studios land in the software publisher line, which shows 36 businesses and 664 employees at 17% of the national concentration. Game studios get no category of their own in Census data.
Industry
What it covers
Businesses
Employees
Concentration
Software and game publishers
Software publishers (game publishers and studios are filed here)
36
664
0.17
Custom programming studios
Custom computer programming services (contract and co-development studios)
199
2,004
0.50
Film, video and animation production
Motion picture and video production (animation and VFX studios)
37
77
0.12
Graphic design firms
Graphic design services
53
121
0.62
Establishments and March payroll employees in the Oklahoma City, OK 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.
Animation and video production reaches just 12% of the national concentration, and graphic design firms 62%, so art-side employers are sparse. Among occupations, graphic designers (1.25) and computer programmers (1.04) are more common in the metro than nationally. Software developers (0.52), web and digital interface designers (0.31) and art directors (0.64) are less common.
The takeaway is lopsided. Programmers have some local market, while a game artist or designer will probably need to work remotely or leave the state for a studio role.
How Common Game-Adjacent Jobs Are in Oklahoma City
Occupation
Jobs per 1,000
Location quotient
Software developers
5.63
0.52
Web and digital interface designers
0.23
0.31
Graphic designers
1.60
1.25
Computer programmers
0.62
1.04
Art directors
0.22
0.64
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 Oklahoma City Produces
Colleges inside the metro graduate about three game students a year, all from Oklahoma City University's bachelor's program. Against 3,980 core jobs in the metro, that's 0.1%, and across the whole 100-mile radius the total is 11 graduates a year once Tulsa is included.
The 2 largest game-related programs within 100 miles of central Oklahoma City by graduates a year, IPEDS completions averaged 2022 to 2024:
That ratio is a rough gauge, not a verdict. The tally bundles developers, interface designers and animators together, and many of those roles have nothing to do with games. Graduates also leave the area, and people arrive from elsewhere to fill roles. A tiny pipeline tells you the region trains few game specialists, not how many openings exist.
Cost near Oklahoma City
Paying for School in Oklahoma City
None of the colleges within the radius is public, so there's no in-state versus out-of-state split to weigh. Oklahoma City University lists $29,804 in tuition for everyone and the University of Tulsa lists $48,340. The useful number is net price after aid, which is $23,143 at the first and $23,681 at the second.
Oklahoma residents can look into Oklahoma's Promise, run by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. The Academic Common Market (ACM) is the tuition exchange to ask about if a program you want exists only at an out-of-state public university.
State Aid in Oklahoma
Oklahoma's main need and merit program for undergraduates is the Oklahoma's Promise, run by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. In its own words: "Oklahoma's Promise offers qualified Oklahoma students an opportunity to earn a scholarship for college tuition." The Oklahoma page covers state aid and public college costs in more detail.
Tuition Exchanges
Oklahoma belongs to the Academic Common Market (ACM). In the program's own words, "Many students qualify for in-state tuition to study at out-of-state institutions.." It also says: "Not all colleges participate, not all programs are offered, and not every offered program is available to students in all states."
Living costs
Living in Oklahoma City as a Student
Oklahoma City is cheap to rent in. Rent here has a median of $1,162, well short of the U.S. $1,487 by $325. A one-bedroom costs $925 a month, or $11,100 over twelve months, against a U.S. one-bedroom of $1,301. Splitting a two-bedroom brings it to about $570 per person. Overall prices sit at 90.4 against a national 100, and housing at 73.9.
Monthly rent
Oklahoma City metro
U.S.
All rentals, median
$1,162
$1,487
One bedroom, median
$925
$1,301
Two bedrooms, median
$1,139
$1,490
Median gross rent (rent plus utilities the tenant pays), American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, tables B25064 and B25031.
On campus, Oklahoma City University charges $9,602 for room and board, and the University of Tulsa charges $11,192. Both have campus housing. Because the city school is 3 miles from the center, living off campus in a metro with rents this low can be a real option.
Rent helps here, at a $1,162 monthly median in the Oklahoma City metro, $325 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.
How to Choose a Game Design Program in Oklahoma City
You're choosing between a design program and a technical one. Oklahoma City University leans toward design and interactive media, while Tulsa's modeling and simulation track is closer to programming and technical work. If you want to build gameplay systems, the Tulsa listing is the better fit on paper. If you'd rather design games, the city school matches.
Both campuses are private, and that decides much of the cost question. Oklahoma City University is the only one you could realistically attend while living in the city, 3 miles from the center, so you can skip dorm costs and keep rent low. Tulsa at 100 miles straight-line means living there, and on-campus room and board is $11,192.
Our data lists no game studios around Oklahoma City, so we can't promise a local internship scene. Expect to find remote and contract opportunities more than walk-in studio positions, and plan to build a portfolio that travels.
The one college on this page isn't open admission; Oklahoma City University admitted 77% of applicants for fall 2024. None requires SAT or ACT scores.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Game Design Schools in Oklahoma City Rank Highest?
Oklahoma City University is the top-ranked game design school near Oklahoma City, scoring 57.6 and ranked 50 of 89 nationally. Price is its strength: aided first-year students pay $23,143, $3,007 under the ranking's median, though 58% completion trails the 59% median. It is small, about 3 graduates a year, which can mean closer faculty contact but fewer electives each term. It is the only ranked game bachelor's in the metro. See the ranked programs.
What Can a Game Developer Earn in Oklahoma City?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that counts game programmers, earn a median of $122,390 in the Oklahoma City metro, against $135,980 nationally (BLS May 2025). In the Oklahoma City metro, web and digital interface designers, where game designers are counted, earn $70,610, which is 32% under the national median of $104,000. Living costs work in your favor in the Oklahoma City metro: BEA puts prices 9.6% below the U.S. average, so a paycheck or a student budget goes further. See what game jobs pay in Oklahoma City.
How Much Does Oklahoma City University Cost?
Oklahoma City University has an average net price of $23,143 a year for aided first-year students (IPEDS), the price after grants rather than the published one. Published tuition is $29,804 for every student, in state or not. It is 3 miles from central Oklahoma City, ranked 50 of 89 nationally, with a school-wide completion rate of 58%. It is small, about 3 graduates a year, which can mean closer faculty contact but fewer electives each term. See the ranked programs.
Can I Commute to a Game Design School From Oklahoma City?
1 ranked program sit inside the Oklahoma City metro. Oklahoma City University scores highest, at 57.6. The top program is 3 miles from central Oklahoma City, close enough to commute if housing nearby is out of reach. 1 game-related program sits within 25 miles of central Oklahoma City and 1 within 50, counting every level. The rest of the metro and the nearby areas are on the Oklahoma page. See the ranked programs.
What's the Monthly Cost of Living for a Student in Oklahoma City?
Median rent in the Oklahoma City metro was $1,162 a month in 2024, $325 below the U.S. median of $1,487 (Census ACS). A one-bedroom runs $925. On-campus room and board at nearby colleges starts at $9,602 a year at Oklahoma City University, which bundles meals and avoids a lease. Housing is where Oklahoma City saves you money, at 73.9 on BEA's index against 100 nationally. See living in Oklahoma City as a student.
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.
