The top 25 game design graduate programs
1. University of Central Florida
2020 Grads Hired: 87%
2020 Grads Salary: $73,000
Graduates: Dennis Brannvall (Design Director, EA DICE), Billy Bramer (Lead Programmer, Epic)
Faculty: Benjamin Noel (VP, COO, Electronic Arts Tiburon), Richard Hall (EA Sports)
2. New York University
2020 Grads Hired: 73%
2020 Grads Salary: $72,000
Faculty: Dr. Bennett Foddy (Getting Over It)
2020 Gender Breakdown: 55% Female, 39% Male
3. Southern Methodist University
2020 Grads Hired: 85%
2020 Grads Salary: $67,400
Graduates: Katie Sabin (Artist, Raven Software) Chris Cole (Technical Artist, Blizzard)
Faculty: Michael Porter (Art and Design, Sierra, Microsoft, Bungie), Elizabeth Stringer (Atari)
4. University of Southern California
2020 Grads Hired: 90%
2020 Grads Salary: $65,000
Graduates: Ryan Coogler (Black Panther), Jeff Kaplan (Overwatch)
Faculty: Richard Lemarchand (Game Designer, Uncharted 1-3), Artem Kovalovs
5. Rochester Institute of Technology
2020 Grads Salary: $70,000
Graduates: Elan Lee (Exploding Kittens, Chief Design Officer of Xbox Entertainment), Alex Kipman (Kinect, Hololens)
6. University of Utah
2020 Grads Salary: $84,655
Graduates: Doug Bowser (President, Nintendo) John Warnock (Founder, Adobe)
7. Becker College
2020 Grads Salary: $70,000
Graduates: Matthew Hopkins (Technical Artist, Rockstar), Yuka Ninohara (UX, WB Games)
8. Abertay University
2020 Grads Hired: 65%
2020 Grads Salary: $68,000
9. DigiPen Institute of Technology
2020 Grads Salary: $78,000
Graduates: Luis Villegas (Engineering Lead, Destiny), Arturo Jauregui (Artist, Nintendo)
10. Worcester Polytechnic Institute
2020 Grads Hired: 63%
2020 Grads Salary: $72,350
11. Drexel University
2020 Grads Salary: $74,000
2020 Gender Breakdown: 75% Female, 25% Male
12. Michigan State University
2020 Grads Hired: 50%
Faculty: Ricardo Guimaraes (Concept Artist, Blizzard), Jeremy Gibson Bond (Programmer/Designer, Maxis)
13. Breda University of Applied Sciences
2020 Grads Hired: 60%
2020 Grads Salary: $46,000
14. Laguna College of Art and Design
2020 Grads Salary: $54,000
Faculty: Dave Jaloza (Producer, Bandai Namco), Chris Ulm (Founder, Jam City)
15. The University of Texas at Dallas
2020 Grads Salary: $34,000
Graduates: Matt Charles (Producer, Gearbox Software), Ricardo Flores (Animator, Naughty Dog)
16. Savannah College of Art and Design
2020 Grads Hired: 48%
2020 Grads Salary: $60,679
17. American University
2020 Grads Salary: $80,000
Fun Fact: AU’s program pushes students to engage with games for change.
18. University of California—Santa Cruz
2020 Grads Hired: 75%
Faculty: Robin Hunicke (thatgamecompany, Funomena)
19. New York Film Academy
2020 Grads Hired: 71%
Graduates: Jon Webb (Director of Global Product Strategy, PlayStation), Tim Schafer (Double Fine)
20. Northeastern University
2020 Grads Hired: 73%
Total Courses: 63
21. Bradley University
22. University of Malta
23. Full Sail University
24. University of Wisconsin - Stout
25. DePaul University
