On this page
- Studying Game Design in 60 Seconds
- What Is a Game Design Degree?
- Associate, Bachelor's, Master's or Certificate: How Long Each Takes
- B.A., B.S. or B.F.A.: What the Game Degree Letters Mean
- What You Study in a Game Design Major
- The Best Degree for Video Game Design Depends on the Job
- What a Video Game Design Degree Costs
- Transfer Credit Can Shorten a Game Degree, or Lengthen It
- Jobs and Pay After a Game Degree
- The Best Game Design Schools for Each Path
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Related Pages
- Sources
Studying Game Design in 60 Seconds
- Most game degree programs are bachelor's degrees. U.S. colleges offer 167 degree programs in game design, programming and simulation, and 59% are bachelor's degrees. Most teach enough code and art to work with a team and put their weight on design work and finished games. The Basics ›
- A bachelor's usually takes at least 4 years. An associate degree takes at least 2 years, and a master's 1 or 2 more after a bachelor's. Certificates are shortest. In O*NET's survey, 55% of video game designers said a new hire needs a bachelor's degree. Degree Levels ›
- Pick the degree that matches the job. Game design leads to designer roles, counted with web and digital interface designers at a $104,000 median. Game programming and computer science lead to software developer jobs at $135,980, and animation to a $102,030 median. Which Degree ›
- Four years at the median net price is $104,600. The median college in our national ranking charged aided first-year students $26,150 a year after grants. Public colleges ran $16,282 and associate degrees $7,953, so starting at a community college saves money if the credits transfer. Cost ›
- New graduates start near the bottom of the range. The bottom 10% of web and digital interface designers earned under $53,750. BLS projects 6% growth for the designer occupation and 10.2% for software developers, and each occupation covers far more than games. Jobs and Pay ›
Heads up Transfer credit can lengthen a degree as well as shorten it. UC Irvine says transfer students in its game design major need at least three years.
What Is a Game Design Degree?
A game design degree is a college program in how games work and how they get made. The Department of Education's definition of the field describes programs that focus on the design, development and programming of interactive media entertainment, including video games and virtual environments. In practice that means rules and systems, levels and encounters, story told through play, and the loop of building a rough version, testing it with players and changing it.
A game design degree is not a degree in playing games, and it is not an art degree or a programming degree with a games label. Most programs teach enough code and enough art for you to work with the programmers and artists on a team, and spend their real weight on design work and finished team games. If you want the background on the field and the job itself, start with what game design is. This guide is about the degree.
The degree is less common than people expect. Across the three game fields this site ranks, design, programming and simulation, U.S. colleges offer 167 degree programs in all, and 59% of them are bachelor's degrees. Animation, the art-side neighbor, adds 187 more. Game design programs by name, the narrowest count, number 116 at 108 colleges.
Degree levelsAssociate, Bachelor's, Master's or Certificate: How Long Each Takes
Game design degrees come at four levels. The lengths below are the federal definitions, which assume full-time study. The counts are the game design, programming and simulation programs that graduated students in recent years and are still running.
| Level | Typical length, full time | Programs | Colleges |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate | Under 1 year to 4 years; most under 1 year | 82 | 73 |
| Associate degree | At least 2 years | 55 | 54 |
| Bachelor's degree | At least 4 years | 98 | 89 |
| Master's degree | 1 or 2 years after a bachelor's | 13 | 12 |
The bachelor's degree is the main route. NCES defines it as usually requiring at least 4 years of full-time study, and that is how most game programs run: two years of foundations, then upper-level studios, specialization and a capstone game built by a team. It is also what employers expect. In O*NET's survey of video game designers, 55% said a new hire needs a bachelor's degree, and 15% said a high school diploma was enough.
The associate degree usually requires at least 2 years of full-time study. Most game associate degrees are at community and technical colleges, and they work two ways: as a short path into testing and entry-level production work, or as the first half of a bachelor's at a lower price. If you mean to transfer, check before you enroll that the four-year college will count the courses.
The master's degree is a program generally requiring 1 or 2 years of full-time study beyond the bachelor's degree. There are only 13 in the three game fields. They suit people changing fields from art, computer science or writing, people who want a portfolio year with faculty critique, and people who want to teach game design at a college.
Certificates are the shortest and the most varied. Of the 82 game certificates in our data, 48 take under a year. 6 are postbaccalaureate certificates, which require a program of study beyond a bachelor's degree, so they are built for graduates adding game design to another field. Our game design certificate guide covers when a short credential is enough.
Online degrees exist at every level, but fewer than the marketing suggests. Our online game design degree ranking lists 13 bachelor's programs whose own pages say the whole degree can be finished online, led by Wilmington University. Some programs sold as online still ask for campus visits, a residency or proctored exams, so confirm the format with admissions before you count on staying home. An online degree also changes how you build a portfolio, because the team projects happen over video calls and shared files instead of in a lab.
Degree namesB.A., B.S. or B.F.A.: What the Game Degree Letters Mean
The same field is sold under several degree names, and the letters tell you something about the balance of the program. Among the six bachelor's programs our classes guide reads in full, UC Santa Cruz and DigiPen award a Bachelor of Arts, and UC Irvine, CSU Chico, Utah and RIT award a Bachelor of Science.
- Bachelor of Science (B.S.) programs usually carry more math and programming. Utah's Bachelor of Science in Games (BSG) and RIT's game design and development degree are examples, and they sit closest to game development.
- Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) programs usually leave more room for design, writing, art and general education. DigiPen's B.A. in Game Design lets students specialize in systems, level, narrative, technical and user experience design.
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) programs sit in art schools and put the most hours into studio work, so they suit students who want to design and also make the art.
The letters are a hint, not a rule. Read the required course list before you trust the name, because two B.S. programs can differ more than a B.S. and a B.A. at different schools.
What You Study in a Game Design Major
A game design major spreads across five kinds of courses: design theory and game analysis, prototyping and playtesting, scripting or programming, art and audio basics, and team production courses that end in finished games. The first year is mostly foundations, design fundamentals, an introductory programming course and drawing or 3D basics. The middle years add level design, systems design and narrative, and the last year is usually a capstone in which a team builds and ships one game.
How much of each depends on the program. Some put programming at the center from the first term. Some barely touch it and spend those hours on writing, visual design and critique. Capstones differ too: at UC Irvine it runs two quarters, at UC Santa Cruz it is a yearlong game project, and at Utah it is two courses across the fourth year. The game design classes guide lays out the required courses for six programs side by side, from their current catalogs, and is the best place to compare what a game design major asks of you.
The quickest way to judge a program is to read its first two years of required courses. If they are full of drawing studios, it is an art program with a games focus. If they are full of calculus, data structures and programming, it is a development program with a design label. If they are mostly design studios, game analysis and prototyping, with one or two programming courses, it is a design degree in the narrow sense. None of these is wrong, but they lead to different first jobs, so read the list before you read the brochure.
Whatever the mix, the output that matters is a portfolio. By graduation you want two or three finished games you can show, with notes on what you designed and what you changed after playtesting. The game design portfolio guide covers what reviewers look for.
Which degreeThe Best Degree for Video Game Design Depends on the Job
"Game design" is used loosely for all of game making, but studios hire for separate jobs, and each lines up with a different degree. The question to answer first is which job you want, because the best degree for video game design work is not the best degree for programming games or animating them.
| Degree | The jobs it aims at | BLS occupation that counts the job | National median wage | Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game design | Game designer, level designer, narrative designer | web and digital interface designers | $104,000 | Best Game Design Schools |
| Game programming or development | Gameplay, engine and tools programmer | software developers | $135,980 | Best Game Development Degrees |
| Computer science | Game programmer, or software work outside games | software developers | $135,980 | CS for game development |
| Animation | Animator, 3D artist, technical artist | special effects artists and animators | $102,030 | Best Animation Schools |
| Simulation and VR | Simulation, training and VR developer | software developers | $135,980 | Best Simulation and VR Degrees |
Three points follow from the table. First, programming pays the most in federal data, because game programmers are counted as software developers, and that occupation's median of $135,980 covers the whole software industry. Second, design and animation pay about the same at the median, $104,000 and $102,030. Third, the degree you choose decides which of those markets you can also apply to outside games, which matters in the years when studios are cutting staff.
Animation and simulation are the two paths people forget. An animation degree puts its hours into drawing, modeling, rigging and motion, and its graduates work in film, television and advertising as well as games, which spreads the risk when one industry is slow. A simulation and VR degree sits close to game programming but points at training, defense, medicine and engineering clients as well as entertainment. Both are reasonable answers to "what should I study to make games" if the job you picture is building characters or building worlds that run, not deciding the rules.
The differences between design and development degrees, course by course, are in game design vs. game development. If you are weighing computer science instead, the guide to a computer science degree for game development compares the two routes in degrees awarded and graduate earnings.
CostWhat a Video Game Design Degree Costs
The best single cost figure for comparing colleges is the average net price: what first-year students who received grant aid paid for a year, after grants, including tuition, fees, housing and books. Every ranking on this site scores it. Here are the medians across the colleges in each ranking.
| Program type | Colleges with a price | Median net price per year | Years, full time | At the median, whole program |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor's, game design and development | 89 | $26,150 | 4 | $104,600 |
| Bachelor's, animation | 82 | $27,577 | 4 | $110,308 |
| Bachelor's, public colleges only | 27 | $16,282 | 4 | $65,128 |
| Bachelor's, fully online | 13 | $21,511 | 4 | $86,044 |
| Associate degree | 54 | $7,953 | 2 | $15,905 |
| Certificate | 69 | $8,715 | 1 | $8,715 |
A four-year video game design degree at the median college comes to about $104,600 at 2022-23 prices. That is the median, and the range around it is wide. Public colleges ran a median of $16,282 a year, and the fully online bachelor's programs ran $21,511. At the low end, Utah Valley University leads our most affordable game design schools ranking.
The cheapest route to a bachelor's is usually two years at a community college followed by two at a public university. At the medians above, an associate degree at $7,953 a year plus two public years comes to about $56,131 less than four years at the national median. It only works if the credits transfer, which is the subject of the next section.
Master's degrees are priced differently, because graduate students rarely get the grant aid that net price measures. The median in-state graduate tuition at the colleges in our master's ranking was $32,224 a year in 2023-24, before housing. Certificates are cheapest per year, with a median net price of $8,715 at the colleges in our certificate ranking. Scholarships lower all of these numbers; our game design scholarships guide lists the industry, school and state awards.
Transfer Credit Can Shorten a Game Degree, or Lengthen It
A bachelor's is measured in credits, not years. DigiPen's Bachelor of Arts in Game Design requires at least 129 semester credits, and how fast you finish depends on how many you take per term and how many you bring in. DigiPen says applicants who have finished a guided course sequence and have a larger number of credits to transfer can save up to one year of time and tuition.
Transfer can also stretch the timeline, which surprises people. UC Irvine's game design major warns transfer applicants that several lower-division courses must be taken there, so the minimum time to degree completion is three years. UC Santa Cruz says transfer students who meet its requirements and finish general education can complete its major in two years.
The practical rule is to read each program's transfer page before you count on an associate degree plus two more years. Look for three things: which game courses must be taken at the four-year college, whether the studio and project courses accept transfer credit at all, and whether your community college has a transfer agreement with the program.
Jobs and payJobs and Pay After a Game Degree
Federal wage data has no "game designer" line, so pay for game jobs comes from the occupation that counts each one. Video game designers are counted with web and digital interface designers, whose national median wage was $104,000 in May 2025. The table shows the jobs a game degree leads to most often.
| Job | BLS occupation | Median wage | Bottom 10% earned under | Projected growth to 2035 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Video game designer | web and digital interface designers | $104,000 | $53,750 | 6% |
| Level designer | web and digital interface designers | $104,000 | $53,750 | 6% |
| Game developer | software developers | $135,980 | $82,460 | 10.2% |
| Game tester | software quality assurance analysts and testers | $104,300 | $61,440 | 5.7% |
| Animator | special effects artists and animators | $102,030 | $58,600 | -0.3% |
| Game producer | producers and directors | $90,360 | $45,780 | 4% |
Read the medians with care. Each occupation covers far more than games, so the figure says what the broad occupation pays, not what a studio pays a junior designer. New graduates start near the bottom of the range, and the bottom 10% column is closer to a first-job figure than the median is. BLS projects 6% growth for the designer occupation and 10.2% for software developers, against 3.5% for all occupations.
The career guides go into each job: the video game designer career, with how designers get hired, and the video game designer salary page, with pay by state and metro area. Layoffs, competition and whether the degree pays off get their own article, linked below.
Where to studyThe Best Game Design Schools for Each Path
Each path above has its own ranking, scored on completion and net price from federal data. These are the rankings and the college at the top of each. In game design and development, University of California-Irvine leads the national list, and in animation it is Brigham Young University.
- Game design Best Game Design Schools #1: University of California-Irvine89 ranked
- Programming Best Game Development Degrees #1: University of California-Irvine29 ranked
- Animation Best Animation Schools #1: Brigham Young University82 ranked
- Simulation Best Simulation and VR Degrees #1: University of California-Irvine18 ranked
- Two-year start Best Associate Degrees in Game Design #1: Miami Dade College54 ranked
- Graduate Best Master's in Game Design #1: University of California-Santa Cruz11 ranked
- Short Best Game Design Certificate Programs #1: Wayne Community College69 ranked
- Online Best Online Game Design Degrees #1: Wilmington University13 confirmed online
If you are still choosing between paths, start with the full list of game design programs ranked, which groups every ranking by level, field and format.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is a Game Design Degree?
A game design degree is a college program in how games work and how to build them: rules and systems, levels, story, prototyping and playtesting, with enough programming and art to work alongside the people who do those jobs. It comes as an associate degree, a bachelor's, a master's or a certificate. In our data, 98 game bachelor's programs run at 89 colleges, and the bachelor's is the level most designers hold. See the full answer.
How Long Does a Game Design Degree Take?
A bachelor's usually takes four years of full-time study, an associate degree two, and a master's one or two years after a bachelor's, going by the federal definitions of each level. Most game certificates are shorter: 48 of the 82 in our data take under a year. Transfer credit can cut a year off a bachelor's, and some programs require time on campus that a transfer can't skip. See each level's length.
Is Game Design or Computer Science the Best Degree for Video Game Design?
For designing games, a game design degree fits better, because its courses are built around design work and finished team games. For programming games, computer science or a game programming degree fits better, because studios hire programmers as software developers, a field where the median wage is $135,980. Video game designers are counted with web and digital interface designers, with a median of $104,000. Pick the degree that matches the job you want. See which degree fits which job.
How Much Does a Video Game Design Degree Cost?
At the median college in our national game design ranking, aided first-year students paid an average net price of $26,150 a year in 2022-23, after grants. Four years at that price comes to about $104,600. Public colleges ran lower, at a median of $16,282, and associate degrees at $7,953 a year. Your own price depends on your aid, so check each school's net price calculator. See the cost table.
Do You Need a Degree to Be a Game Designer?
Not always, but most designers have one. In O*NET's survey of video game designers, 55% said a new hire needs a bachelor's degree and 15% said a high school diploma was enough. Studios hire on the games you can show, so a degree mostly earns its keep through the years of team projects and critique that build a portfolio. A strong portfolio can get you hired without one, but it is the harder road. See the jobs and pay.
Sources
- 1 NCES, Condition of Education glossary Definitions and usual lengths of each degree level. Accessed .
- 2 NCES, Classification of Instructional Programs 2020: Game and Interactive Media Design The federal definition of the game design field. Accessed .
- 3 NCES, IPEDS Completions Game design, programming, simulation and animation programs by level, and game certificates by length. Accessed .
- 4 NCES, IPEDS Student Financial Aid and Institutional Characteristics Average net price (2022-23) and graduate tuition (2023-24) at the colleges in each ranking. Accessed .
- 5 BLS, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 National wages for the occupation that counts each game job. Accessed .
- 6 BLS, Employment Projections 2025-35 Projected growth for each occupation. Accessed .
- 7 O*NET OnLine, 15-1255.01 Video Game Designers Education survey for video game designers. Accessed .
- 8 DigiPen, Bachelor of Arts in Game Design Degree name, credit total, capstone and transfer rules, from the school's current catalog. Accessed .
- 9 UC Irvine, Game Design and Interactive Media, B.S. Degree name, credit total, capstone and transfer rules, from the school's current catalog. Accessed .
- 10 UC Santa Cruz, Art & Design: Games + Playable Media B.A. Degree name, credit total, capstone and transfer rules, from the school's current catalog. Accessed .
- 11 Utah, Bachelor of Science in Games (BSG) Degree name, credit total, capstone and transfer rules, from the school's current catalog. Accessed .