The game design schools in Salt Lake City rank high at modest prices. Rank 4 of 89 belongs to University of Utah, 5 miles from the center, rank 19 of 89 belongs to Utah Valley University, 36 miles out, and Brigham Young University holds the number one spot for animation. That's a run of top-ten programs within about 40 miles, and the published in-state tuition at the public ones starts at $5,818.
Kevin ToFounder & EditorB.S. in Computer Science, Temple UniversityUpdated
3Game Programs Within 25 Milesgame design, programming, simulation and animation, all levelsIPEDS locations
5Game Programs Within 50 Milesat 5 collegesIPEDS locations
3Ranked Game Design Bachelor's Programs Nearbyranked, within 50 miles; plus 1 animationOur ranking
University of Utah leads the metro at 88.0.2 ranked programs sit inside the Salt Lake City and Murray metro. It beats the ranking's medians on both counts: 70% of its students finish, against 59%, and aided first-year students pay $13,341, against $26,150.The Ranking ›
Software developers earn $129,600 here.The U.S. median for the same job is $135,980. About 19,040 people work as software developers in the metro, a heavier concentration than the country as a whole (location quotient 2.12). Pay for web and digital interface designers, where bls counts game designers, in Salt Lake City sits close to the national median: $107,320 against $104,000.Pay ›
149 software and game publishers in the metro.Concentration 2.57, where 1.00 matches the U.S. Those publishers employ 13,168 people. The metro also has 325 custom programming studios and 102 film, video and animation production companies.Employers ›
In-state tuition starts at $3,928.3 public colleges nearby offer a game-related program. The highest in-state tuition nearby is $8,461, so where you enroll changes the bill a lot.Costs ›
A one-bedroom rents for $1,385 a month.The U.S. median one-bedroom is $1,301. Rent is the big cost in the Salt Lake City and Murray metro: the median is $1,659 a month, $172 over the U.S. median. The lowest on-campus room and board nearby is $9,720 a year at Brigham Young University.Living Costs ›
Ranked in Salt Lake City
The Best Game Design Schools in Salt Lake City, UT for 2027
Start with University of Utah, a public school ranked 4 of 89 for computer game programming with a score of 88.0. It graduates 151 students a year in the program, far more than any other school on this page, and publishes $8,461 for residents against $29,701 for nonresidents. The school-wide net price is $13,341 and the completion rate is 70%.
Neumont College of Computer Science is the other ranked entry, 2 miles from the center and a simulation program. It ranks 49 of 89 on a score of 58.8, graduates 30 students a year, and publishes $25,500 as a private for-profit college. Its school-wide completion rate is 52%, which is a good reason to ask how many students finish its 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 Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake City, UT · Public · Game programming program · 5 miles
88.0
#4 of 89 nationally
5 miles from Salt Lake City
Net price earns full cost points
Technical track: game programming
Public
The campus is only 5 miles from Salt Lake City, so a student from the metro can live at home or commute. The B.S. in Games is housed in the university's games division, which also offers a minor, a computer science degree with a games emphasis and a master's in entertainment arts and engineering.
Local students pay in-state tuition of $8,461, and aided first-years pay a net price of $13,341 school-wide. The degree includes Ethics in Games, a two-part capstone and 30 hours of games electives. Across the university, 70% of entering students complete within eight years, the SAT midpoint is 1285 and about 151 students graduate from the program each year. Local students can also attend information sessions and tours, which the games division offers to prospective students.
Salt Lake City, UT · Private for-profit · Simulation program · 2 miles
58.8
#49 of 89 nationally
2 miles from Salt Lake City
Technical track: simulation
Private
Neumont sits about 2 miles from Salt Lake City, so a local student can commute from home or live nearby. The campus has student housing, clubs, an esports presence and a Steam page, which signals a gaming culture around the classroom.
Students in the B.S. in Software & Game Development can spend up to 20 hours a week on enterprise projects, building deployable games with a company in a real project setting. Tuition is $25,500, and school-wide net price is $28,592 for aided first-years. Across the college, enrollment is just 476 and completion within eight years is 52%. About 30 students finish the program annually. The city campus keeps students close to downtown, and the college lists admission at 87% of applicants school-wide.
The rest of the Salt Lake City-Murray, UT metro and the nearby areas are covered on the Utah page.
StateUtah3 ranked game bachelor's · 5 programs in allView the Utah guide ›
More ways in
Other Game Programs in Salt Lake City
3 more programs inside the Salt Lake City and Murray 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).
Utah pays game workers near national levels and often above the rest of the state. Game programmers and engine developers are counted as software developers, who earn $129,600 across the metro, $790 above the Utah median though $6,380 under the national figure. Computer programmers do better against both benchmarks, at $111,290.
Graphic designersWhere many art and UI graduates start
$65,450
$52,240–$80,400$52k–$80k$52,240 to $80,400
1,380
$62,310
$62,960
Computer programmersProgramming roles outside software development
$111,290
$95,190–$127,180$95k–$127k$95,190 to $127,180
370
$104,890
$100,390
Art directorsSenior art leads; rarely a first job
$109,470
$78,720–$146,770$79k–$147k$78,720 to $146,770
180
$106,500
$114,850
Annual wages, BLS OEWS May 2025, for the Salt Lake City-Murray, UT metropolitan area. The middle half earns between the 25th and 75th percentile.
The art roles show the strongest local premium. Animators and special effects artists earn $101,730, just $300 under the national median and $13,520 above the state's. Interface designers earn $107,320 and art directors earn $109,470, and graphic designers earn $65,450, all above the state medians.
Prices are about average. The overall level is 100.9, while housing runs 123.3, so rent takes a bigger share than the headline number suggests.
About 19,040 people work as software developers in the Salt Lake City and Murray metro, a heavier concentration than the country as a whole (location quotient 2.12). Pay for web and digital interface designers, where bls counts game designers, in Salt Lake City sits close to the national median: $107,320 against $104,000. BEA's index puts prices in the Salt Lake City and Murray metro near the U.S. average, at 100.9.
Software is the story in Salt Lake. Software and game publishers run at 2.6 times the national concentration, with 149 businesses and 13,168 employees. Game studios have no Census category of their own and mostly land in that one, so it's the closest read on where studio jobs sit.
Industry
What it covers
Businesses
Employees
Concentration
Software and game publishers
Software publishers (game publishers and studios are filed here)
149
13,168
2.57
Custom programming studios
Custom computer programming services (contract and co-development studios)
325
4,766
0.93
Film, video and animation production
Motion picture and video production (animation and VFX studios)
102
335
0.42
Graphic design firms
Graphic design services
100
495
1.98
Establishments and March payroll employees in the Salt Lake City-Murray, UT 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.
The other industries are more mixed. Graphic design firms are at 2.0 times the national concentration. Custom programming studios, at 93% of the national concentration, are near the national level. Film, video and animation production is at 42%, so animation work is thin.
By occupation, software developers are well above the national mix at 2.12, special effects artists and animators at 1.64, and graphic designers at 1.31. Computer programmers (0.75), web and digital interface designers (0.96) and art directors (0.63) are less common than nationally. So both code and animation roles show up above average, but art direction and interface design lag.
How Common Game-Adjacent Jobs Are in Salt Lake City
Occupation
Jobs per 1,000
Location quotient
Software developers
23.04
2.12
Web and digital interface designers
0.70
0.96
Special effects artists and animators
0.21
1.64
Graphic designers
1.67
1.31
Computer programmers
0.44
0.75
Art directors
0.21
0.63
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 Salt Lake City Produces
Within 50 miles, 255 students a year finish a game-related program, 229 of them with bachelor's degrees. Campuses inside the metro supply 207 of that total, and the metro has 19,790 core jobs, a ratio of 1.0%. University of Utah does the heavy lifting with 151 graduates a year from its computer game programming offering, then Neumont College of Computer Science with 30 and Salt Lake Community College with 27.
The 5 largest game-related programs within 50 miles of central Salt Lake City by graduates a year, IPEDS completions averaged 2022 to 2024:
That 1.0% isn't a hiring forecast. Most core jobs are in general software and web work, not games, and some graduates head to other cities or remote roles. Brigham Young University adds 25 from 39 miles out, and Utah Valley University adds 24 from 36 miles out, so you'd be one of a few hundred local graduates, and a portfolio matters.
Cost near Salt Lake City
Paying for School in Salt Lake City
All three public colleges within 50 miles share the city's state. University of Utah has the widest gap, charging Utahns $8,461 and everyone else $29,701, a $21,240 jump, so residency is worth establishing if you can. Salt Lake Community College lists $3,928 and $13,746, and Utah Valley University lists $5,818 and $17,800, with school-wide net prices of $8,853 and $8,650.
The public colleges within 50 miles that offer a game-related program, all in Utah. 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).
Opportunity Scholarship, from the Utah System of Higher Education, is the state aid to look up as a resident. If you live in another western state, the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) is worth checking before you accept the full out-of-state rate at a Utah school.
State Aid in Utah
Utah's main merit program for undergraduates is the Opportunity Scholarship, run by the Utah System of Higher Education. In its own words: "The Opportunity Scholarship encourages students to complete advanced courses while in high school to prepare academically for college." The Utah page covers state aid and public college costs in more detail.
Tuition Exchanges
Utah belongs to the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE). In the program's own words, "WUE enables eligible students to enroll as nonresidents in 170 participating public colleges and universities and pay 150% (or less) of the enrolling institution’s resident tuition."
Living costs
Living in Salt Lake City as a Student
Rent is the catch here. The metro median hits $1,659 while the U.S. sits at $1,487, which is $172 above the U.S. median, and the housing price level is 123.3 against a national 100. A one-bedroom costs $1,385 a month, $16,620 over twelve months, and a two-bedroom at $1,723 splits to $862 per person. Sharing is the standard answer.
Monthly rent
Salt Lake City and Murray metro
U.S.
All rentals, median
$1,659
$1,487
One bedroom, median
$1,385
$1,301
Two bedrooms, median
$1,723
$1,490
Median gross rent (rent plus utilities the tenant pays), American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, tables B25064 and B25031.
On campus, Brigham Young University is the cheapest at $9,720 for room and board, University of Utah is $12,398, and Neumont College of Computer Science is the priciest at $14,724. Only three of the five colleges report campus housing costs.
Rent is the big cost in the Salt Lake City and Murray metro: the median is $1,659 a month, $172 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.
Salt Lake Community College lacks dorms, as does Utah Valley University, so you'd rent. Their off-campus estimates are $15,514 and $9,234, and Utah Valley is the lower of the two, though it sits 36 miles from the center.
Choosing
How to Choose a Game Design Program in Salt Lake City
Most of the ranked programs lean technical. University of Utah offers a game programming program and Neumont College of Computer Science as modeling and simulation, with Utah Valley University the one design-focused option and Brigham Young University the art-focused one. If you want to write engine code, the Salt Lake campus is the obvious start, and if you want to animate, Brigham Young University is the target.
Public versus private is unusually simple here. Two of the three game programs are public, and Brigham Young University's animation program publishes $6,688 despite being private, with a net price of $14,643. By contrast, Neumont College of Computer Science publishes $25,500 and a $28,592 net price, so the cheapest ranked programs are also the highest-scoring ones.
A commute works for the 5 miles to University of Utah and the 2 miles to Neumont, both straight-line. Utah Valley University at 36 miles and Brigham Young University at 39 are far enough to mean a move or a long drive. Local studios in the metro give students places to approach about internships.
Admission is rarely the hard part here: 1 of the 3 colleges on this page admits anyone with a high school diploma, and among the rest fall 2024 admission ran from 86% at University of Utah to 87% at Neumont College of Computer Science. None requires SAT or ACT scores.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Salt Lake City Game Design Schools Rank in the Top Ten?
University of Utah is the top-ranked game design school in Salt Lake City, scoring 88.0 and ranked 4 of 89 nationally. It beats the ranking's medians on both counts: 70% of its students finish, against 59%, and aided first-year students pay $13,341, against $26,150. With about 151 graduates a year, it is one of the larger programs in the ranking, so expect big cohorts and several sections of core courses. Neumont College of Computer Science is next at 58.8, one of 2 ranked programs in the metro. See the ranked programs.
How Much Do Game Developers Earn in Salt Lake City?
Software developers, the BLS occupation that counts game programmers, earn a median of $129,600 in the Salt Lake City and Murray metro, against $135,980 nationally (BLS May 2025). Pay for web and digital interface designers, where game designers are counted, in the Salt Lake City and Murray metro sits close to the national median: $107,320 against $104,000. BEA's index puts prices in the Salt Lake City and Murray metro near the U.S. average, at 100.9. See what game jobs pay in Salt Lake City.
How Far Is the Main Salt Lake Campus From Downtown?
2 ranked programs sit inside the Salt Lake City and Murray metro, and 3 associate, graduate or certificate programs add other ways in. University of Utah scores highest, at 88.0. The top program is 5 miles from central Salt Lake City, close enough to commute if housing nearby is out of reach. 3 game-related programs sit within 25 miles of central Salt Lake City and 5 within 50, counting every level. The rest of the metro and the nearby areas are on the Utah page. See the ranked programs.
How Hard Is It to Get Into Game Design Schools Near Salt Lake City?
Admission is rarely the hard part here: 1 of the 3 colleges on this page admits anyone with a high school diploma, and among the rest fall 2024 admission ran from 86% at University of Utah to 87% at Neumont College of Computer Science. 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 Salt Lake Community College, 7 miles from central Salt Lake City. Each program card shows its college's admission rate where one is reported. See how to choose a program.
How Much Is In-State Tuition Near Salt Lake City?
In-state tuition at public colleges near Salt Lake City starts at $3,928 a year, at Salt Lake Community College, and runs up to $8,461 at University of Utah. Nonresidents pay $13,746 at Salt Lake Community College. 3 public colleges within 50 miles offer a game-related program, and private colleges charge every student the same tuition. After grants, Utah Valley University has the lowest average net price nearby, $8,650, under the $13,240 public average in the median state. See paying for school in Salt Lake City.
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.
