Pittsburgh is a city where every nearby ranked program is private, so the question about game design schools in Pittsburgh is less about public versus private and more about which kind of private school fits you. Two ranked programs sit inside the metro, both animation, and neither ranks better than 40 of 82. The best score in the region is a program 56 miles away in West Virginia, which is worth knowing before you commit.
Kevin ToFounder & EditorB.S. in Computer Science, Temple UniversityUpdated
2Game Programs Within 25 Milesgame design, programming, simulation and animation, all levelsIPEDS locations
2Game Programs Within 50 Milesat 2 collegesIPEDS locations
0Ranked Game Design Bachelor's Programs Nearbyranked, within 50 miles; plus 2 animationOur ranking
Point Park University leads the metro at 61.4.2 ranked programs sit inside the Pittsburgh metro. It beats the ranking's medians on both counts: 60% of its students finish, against 59%, and aided first-year students pay $25,477, against $26,150.The Ranking ›
Software developers earn $124,500 here.The U.S. median for the same job is $135,980. About 10,320 people work as software developers in the metro, close to the national share. In Pittsburgh, web and digital interface designers, where bls counts game designers, earn $85,900, which is 17% under the national median of $104,000.Pay ›
118 software and game publishers in the metro.Concentration 0.58, where 1.00 matches the U.S. Those publishers employ 4,668 people. The metro also has 455 custom programming studios and 60 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 50 miles.Costs ›
A one-bedroom rents for $890 a month.The U.S. median one-bedroom is $1,301. Rent helps here, at a $1,083 monthly median in the Pittsburgh metro, $404 under the national figure. The lowest on-campus room and board nearby is $12,480 a year at Point Park University.Living Costs ›
Ranked in Pittsburgh
The Best Game Design Schools in Pittsburgh, PA for 2027
Point Park University sits 1 mile from the center and ranks 40 of 82 for animation, with 11 graduates a year and a net price of $25,477 school-wide. Chatham University is 3 miles out and ranks 53 of 82, though it graduates only 3 students a year in the program. Both are animation programs, so neither is a game design degree.
The game side is missing locally. No ranked game bachelor's sits within 50 miles of the center, and the closest game design degree on the list is West Virginia University, 56 miles away, a game design program.
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 Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh, PA · Private nonprofit · Animation program · 1 miles
61.4
#40 of 82 in animation
1 miles from Pittsburgh
Animation
Private
Point Park's campus sits in the heart of downtown Pittsburgh, a mile from the city center, and the B.F.A. in Animation puts students to work early: they are animating in their first semester. Courses cover 2-D, 3-D, motion graphics and visual effects for movies, and students share work in critiques, presentations and screenings. Students and alumni have landed internships or jobs at Marvel Studios, Warner Animation Group and the Pittsburgh Penguins, among others.
School-wide net price for aided first-years is $25,477, against published tuition of $37,650 and a cost of attendance of $57,030. About 11 students a year graduate from the program. Across the university, 3,448 students are enrolled, 60% complete a degree within eight years, and 97% of applicants are admitted.
Pittsburgh, PA · Private nonprofit · Animation program · 3 miles
53.8
#53 of 82 in animation
3 miles from Pittsburgh
Animation
Private
Chatham's B.A. in Immersive Media is an interdisciplinary degree that blends virtual and augmented reality, architecture, 3D modeling, game engines, writing and design thinking. Projects include VR games, museum exhibits, documentaries, projection mapping and live performance visuals. The sequence begins with an introductory course, moves through studio courses and ends in a year-long capstone, and the lab holds Meta Quest 3 headsets alongside devices from Sony, HP, HTC, Valve and Apple.
Net price school-wide for aided first-years is $29,051, against published tuition of $43,518 and a $61,226 cost of attendance. About 3 students a year graduate from the program, a small cohort, and the university admits 62% of applicants. The campus is 3 miles from the center of the city. Across Chatham, 2,309 students are enrolled and 67% complete a degree within eight years.
The rest of the Pittsburgh, PA metro and the nearby areas are covered on the Pennsylvania page.
StatePennsylvania5 ranked game bachelor's · 10 programs in allView the Pennsylvania guide ›
Pay in Pittsburgh
What Game Jobs Pay in Pittsburgh
Pay for game roles in Pittsburgh runs under the national medians in every category BLS published. Game programmers and engine developers fall under software developers, who earn $124,500 here, $11,480 less than the national median and $2,050 less than the state's. Computer programmers earn $85,340, which trails the national figure by $15,050.
$57,490–$82,280$57k–$82k$57,490 to $82,280, May 2025May 2025
60May 2024
$71,760May 2025
$102,030
Graphic designersWhere many art and UI graduates start
$57,830
$46,540–$70,710$47k–$71k$46,540 to $70,710
1,200
$60,730
$62,960
Computer programmersProgramming roles outside software development
$85,340
$62,930–$111,230$63k–$111k$62,930 to $111,230
420
$89,180
$100,390
Art directorsSenior art leads; rarely a first job
$96,420
$74,370–$104,170$74k–$104k$74,370 to $104,170
180
$97,450
$114,850
Annual wages, BLS OEWS May 2025, for the Pittsburgh, PA 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 Pittsburgh metro in the current release.
The creative lines are lower. Interface designers, a group that includes game and UI designers, earn $85,900, with the middle half running from $61,890 to $118,980. Special effects artists and animators earn $69,300, the largest gap to the national median at $32,730, while graphic designers earn $57,830 and art directors $96,420.
What offsets it is the cost of living. The price level is 94.7 and housing is only 72, against a national average of 100, so a Pittsburgh paycheck covers rent more easily than the raw numbers suggest.
About 10,320 people work as software developers in the Pittsburgh metro, close to the national share. In Pittsburgh, web and digital interface designers, where bls counts game designers, earn $85,900, which is 17% under the national median of $104,000. Living costs work in your favor in the Pittsburgh metro: BEA puts prices 5.3% below the U.S. average, so a paycheck or a student budget goes further.
Pittsburgh's game scene runs through contract programming, not publishing. The strongest local signal is custom programming studios at 1.4 times the national concentration, backed by 455 businesses and 11,530 employees. Software and game publishers, where Census files most game studios because it has no separate game category, are lower at 58% of the national concentration.
Industry
What it covers
Businesses
Employees
Concentration
Software and game publishers
Software publishers (game publishers and studios are filed here)
118
4,668
0.58
Custom programming studios
Custom computer programming services (contract and co-development studios)
455
11,530
1.42
Film, video and animation production
Motion picture and video production (animation and VFX studios)
60
250
0.20
Graphic design firms
Graphic design services
79
285
0.72
Establishments and March payroll employees in the Pittsburgh, PA 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.
Art-side industries are thin. Animation and video studios register 20% of the national concentration and graphic design firms are at 72%. Developer jobs sit at a location quotient of 0.85 and programmer jobs at 0.64, both less common in the metro than nationally. Art directors, at 0.46, are rarer still.
Game companies do exist here. For a student, that means a handful of local game employers plus a deep bench of client-facing programming shops. Artists should expect fewer in-town openings than engineers.
How Common Game-Adjacent Jobs Are in Pittsburgh
Occupation
Jobs per 1,000
Location quotient
Software developers
9.26
0.85
Web and digital interface designers
0.54
0.74
Graphic designers
1.08
0.85
Computer programmers
0.38
0.64
Art directors
0.16
0.46
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 Pittsburgh Produces
Pittsburgh's output is modest. Both colleges within 50 miles are inside the metro, and their programs produce 14 graduates a year, all at the bachelor's level. The metro holds 10,920 core jobs, so the metro share is 0.1%. Point Park University leads with 11 bachelor's graduates a year in animation and interactive technology, and Chatham University adds 3.
The largest of them by graduates a year are the programs in the ranking above, led by Point Park University with about 11 a year.
Neither program is a game design program, so the pool is animation graduates and small in volume. As for the ratio, the core jobs are largely outside games, and graduates leave town or take non-game roles. Treat 0.1% as a sign of a small pool, not as a count of open game positions.
Cost near Pittsburgh
Paying for School in Pittsburgh
No public college with a relevant program turns up within 50 miles, so there's no in-state versus out-of-state comparison to make at a nearby campus. That makes the tuition decision a private-school one, with published prices of $37,650 at Point Park University and $43,518 at Chatham University and net prices of $25,477 and $29,051.
Pennsylvania State Grant is administered by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, and it's where a resident should start when private tuition is the only choice. There's no undergraduate regional tuition exchange to lean on, so no discount applies if you're coming from out of state.
State Aid in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's main need program for undergraduates is the Pennsylvania State Grant, run by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency. In its own words: "The Pennsylvania State Grant is the largest grant program in the state." The Pennsylvania page covers state aid and public college costs in more detail.
Tuition Exchanges
SREB’s FAQ says residents of its affiliates, Pennsylvania among them, "are not eligible to participate in" the Academic Common Market.
Living costs
Living in Pittsburgh as a Student
Rent is the reason many students look at Pittsburgh twice. At $1,083, median rent sits $404 below the U.S. median of $1,487. Expect $890 monthly for a one-bedroom, or $10,680 across twelve months, versus $1,301 nationally. Splitting a two-bedroom at $1,122 brings it to about $561 each.
Monthly rent
Pittsburgh metro
U.S.
All rentals, median
$1,083
$1,487
One bedroom, median
$890
$1,301
Two bedrooms, median
$1,122
$1,490
Median gross rent (rent plus utilities the tenant pays), American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, tables B25064 and B25031.
Housing sits at a price level of 72 and the whole metro at 94.7, both below a national average of 100. Both nearby colleges report on-campus room and board: Point Park University at $12,480 and Chatham University at $14,324. Point Park's off-campus estimate is only $3,150, so living off campus there can be notably cheaper than the dorm.
Rent helps here, at a $1,083 monthly median in the Pittsburgh metro, $404 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.
With only two programs nearby, the choice is narrow. Both are animation programs, Point Park University, then Chatham University, so if you draw and animate rather than code, those are your closest matches. If you want game design or programming, look to West Virginia University or an online program.
Cost splits the field clearly. Point Park University publishes $37,650 and Chatham University $43,518, though net price compresses the gap to $25,477 and $29,051. Check the school-wide completion rates, 60% and 67%, because they say more about the institution than about its game program.
Living at home is practical for both: Point Park University at 1 mile and Chatham University at 3, both straight-line. Game companies are based here, so students in town have local companies to approach about internships.
None of the 2 colleges on this page is open admission, and fall 2024 admission ran from 62% at Chatham University to 97% at Point Park University. None requires SAT or ACT scores.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Pittsburgh Schools Rank Best for Game Design?
Point Park University has the top-ranked program in Pittsburgh, an animation bachelor's scoring 61.4. It beats the ranking's medians on both counts: 60% of its students finish, against 59%, and aided first-year students pay $25,477, against $26,150. About 11 students a year graduate from it, a mid-sized program by the ranking's standards. Chatham University is next at 53.8, one of 2 ranked programs in the metro. See the ranked programs.
How Much Do Game Jobs Pay in Pittsburgh?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that counts game programmers, earn a median of $124,500 in the Pittsburgh metro, against $135,980 nationally (BLS May 2025). In the Pittsburgh metro, web and digital interface designers, where game designers are counted, earn $85,900, which is 17% under the national median of $104,000. Living costs work in your favor in the Pittsburgh metro: BEA puts prices 5.3% below the U.S. average, so a paycheck or a student budget goes further. See what game jobs pay in Pittsburgh.
Can I Commute to a Pittsburgh Game Design Program?
2 ranked programs sit inside the Pittsburgh metro. Point Park University scores highest, at 61.4. The top program is 1 miles from central Pittsburgh, close enough to commute if housing nearby is out of reach. 2 game-related programs sit within 25 miles of central Pittsburgh and 2 within 50, counting every level. The rest of the metro and the nearby areas are on the Pennsylvania page. See the ranked programs.
Is Pittsburgh Cheap to Live in While Studying Game Design?
Median rent in the Pittsburgh metro was $1,083 a month in 2024, $404 below the U.S. median of $1,487 (Census ACS). A one-bedroom runs $890. On-campus room and board at nearby colleges starts at $12,480 a year at Point Park University, which bundles meals and avoids a lease. Housing is where Pittsburgh saves you money, at 72 on BEA's index against 100 nationally. See living in Pittsburgh as a student.
How Hard Is It to Get Into a Game-Related Program Near Pittsburgh?
None of the 2 colleges on this page is open admission, and fall 2024 admission ran from 62% at Chatham University to 97% at Point Park University. None requires SAT or ACT scores. With no open-admission college nearby, apply to more than one program. Each program card shows its college's admission rate where one is reported. See how to choose a program.
Keep exploring
Related Pages
CityYoungstown, OH57 mi from Pittsburgh · 1 program within 50 miles · 0 ranked game bachelor'sView the Youngstown guide ›
CityCleveland, OH114 mi from Pittsburgh · 3 programs within 50 miles · 1 ranked game bachelor'sView the Cleveland 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.
