The Princeton Review's 2025 Rankings of Top Schools for Game Design
#1 on Undergraduate School List: U-Southern Cal
#1 on Graduate School List: NYU
NEW YORK, March 18, 2025 / — The Princeton Review®—the education services company known for its school rankings in dozens of categories—today reported its Top Game Design Schools for 2025. It is the company's 16th annual ranking of undergraduate and graduate schools for game design studies.
The University of Southern California is #1 on the undergraduate school ranking list which names 50 schools in all. USC is up from the #2 ranking on this list in 2024.
New York University is #1 on the graduate school ranking list which names 25 schools in all. NYU is up from the #2 ranking on this list in 2024.
For this project, The Princeton Review also reports the schools that made the lists in seven regions: Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, South, Southwest, West, and International. Most of the institutions on the lists are in the U.S. Two are in Canada and four are abroad.
The top 10 schools on the undergraduate and graduate lists and the #1 schools on the seven regional lists are below. The complete ranking lists are posted at PrincetonReview.com along with the company's profiles of the schools featuring information about their programs and offerings.
The Princeton Review's 2025 rankings of top schools for game design were based on the company's survey in 2024 of administrators at 150 institutions offering game design courses and/or degrees. The 50-question survey covered four areas: academics, faculty, technology, and career topics. More than 40 data points from the survey were factored into the ranking tallies. Information about the survey and ranking methodology is here.
PC Gamer, a top online and print gaming publication, is The Princeton Review's reporting partner on this project, an affiliation that began in 2013. The magazine's May issue, which lands on newsstands today, has an eight-page feature on the ranking lists. Titled "The Best Game Design Programs Ranked by The Princeton Review 2025," it reports the schools that made the undergraduate and graduate lists, and features notes about each school's game design program including names of distinguished faculty and alumni as well as the mean salary of graduates. The feature also includes two articles presenting interesting "homework" challenges for game developers. One is titled "Competitive communication." The other is titled "Meaningful exploration."
The top 10 schools on the list "Top 50 Undergraduate Schools for Game Design for 2025" are:
- University of Southern California (Los Angeles)
- New York University (New York, NY)
- Clark University (Worcester, MA)
- University of Utah (Salt Lake City)
- University of Central Florida (Orlando)
- Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY)
- Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA)
- Abertay University (Dundee, Scotland)
- Champlain College (Burlington, VT)
- Michigan State University (East Lansing)
The top 10 schools on the list "Top 25 Graduate Schools for Game Design for 2025" are:
- New York University (New York, NY)
- University of Central Florida (Orlando)
- University of Southern California (Los Angeles)
- University of Utah (Salt Lake City)
- Clark University (Worcester, MA)
- Southern Methodist University (Dallas, TX)
- Abertay University (Dundee, Scotland)
- Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA)
- Michigan State University (East Lansing)
- Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY)
The lists by region and the #1 undergraduate and graduate schools on them are:
Mid-Atlantic: Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA), #1 Undergrad, #1 Grad
Midwest: Michigan State University (East Lansing), #1 Undergrad, #1 Grad
Northeast: New York University (New York, NY), #1 Undergrad, #1 Grad
South: University of Central Florida (Orlando), #1 Undergrad, #1 Grad
Southwest: Abilene Christian University (Abilene, TX), #1 Undergrad
Southern Methodist University (Dallas, TX), #1 Grad
West: University of Southern California (Los Angeles), #1 Undergrad, #1 Grad
International: Abertay University (Dundee, Scotland), #1 Undergrad, #1 Grad
"'The schools that made our lists for 2025 have awesome programs in game design. Their faculties are superb. Their facilities are state-of-the-art, and their alumni include many of the video game industry’s most successful designers, developers, and entrepreneurs. We highly recommend them to any student considering a career in this exciting field," said Franek, The Princeton Review's Editor-in-Chief.
Franek noted the exceptional experience that students enrolled in the game design programs at the schools on the 2025 lists receive.
At the 50 undergraduate schools that made the lists, in 2024:
- 66% of the students worked on a shipped game as part of their studies
- 93% of the students developed an actionable plan to launch a functional game after graduation
- the average starting salary of graduates with a bachelor's degree in game studies was almost $63,000.
- 80% of the students worked on a shipped game as part of their studies
- 90% of the students developed an actionable plan to launch a functional game after graduation
- the average starting salary of graduates with a master's degree in game studies was almost $74,000
In addition to The Princeton Review's annual rankings of undergraduate and graduate schools for game design studies, the company ranks undergraduate and graduate schools for entrepreneurship studies, as well as law schools, MBA programs, and colleges in several categories, as well as online programs in various disciplines.
About PC Gamer
Future's leading online and print gaming publication, PC Gamer is the global authority on PC games. Having covered PC gaming for more than 30 years, PC Gamer continues that legacy today with worldwide print editions and around-the-clock news, features, original reporting, buying guides, and reviews on pcgamer.com, as well as with its twice-annual PC Gaming Show broadcast event. Visit PC Gamer's staff page to see the international team behind these stories and events, and keep up on Steam, X, Facebook and YouTube.
About The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review is a leading tutoring, test prep, and college admissions services company. Every year, it helps millions of college- and graduate school–bound students as well as working professionals achieve their education and career goals through its many education services and products. These include online and in-person courses delivered by a network of more than 4,000 teachers and tutors; online resources; a line of more than 150 print and digital books published by Penguin Random House; and dozens of categories of school rankings. The company’s Tutor.com brand, now in its 24th year, is one of the largest online tutoring services in the U.S. It comprises a community of thousands of tutors who have delivered more than 28 million tutoring sessions. The Princeton Review, headquartered in New York, NY, is not affiliated with Princeton University. For more information, visit PrincetonReview.com and the company’s Media Center. Follow the company on X (formerly Twitter) (@ThePrincetonRev) and Instagram (@theprincetonreview).
WEBSITE: www.princetonreview.com
SOURCE: The Princeton Review
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Contacts
The Princeton Review: Jeanne Krier, Publicist for The Princeton Review, pressoffice@review.com
PC Gamer / Future PLC: Nicole Martineau, PR Director, pr@futurenet.com
Note to Editors
Rob Franek, Editor-in-Chief, and David Soto, Senior Director, Data Operations at The Princeton Review, are available for interviews. Lists of ranked schools organized two ways (alphabetical by country/state/city/school and alphabetical by school) are at https://www.princetonreview.com/press/game-design-press-release-2025.
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List of Programs: Alpha by Country / State / City / School
BELGIUM
West-Flanders
Kortrijk / Howest University of Applied Sciences (Undergraduate #22, Undergraduate International #5)
CANADA
British Columbia
Vancouver / LaSalle College Vancouver (Undergraduate #19, Undergraduate International #4)
Vancouver / Vancouver Film School (Undergraduate #16, Undergraduate International #3)
SCOTLAND
Angus
Dundee / Abertay University (Undergraduate #8, Undergraduate International #1, Graduate #7, Graduate International #1)
UNITED KINGDOM
Cornwall
Falmouth / Falmouth University (Undergraduate #13, Undergraduate International #2, Graduate #11, Graduate International #2)
UNITED STATES
Arizona
Tempe / Arizona State University (Undergraduate #50, Undergraduate Southwest #4)
California
Burbank / New York Film Academy (Undergraduate #34, Undergraduate West #6)
Irvine / University of California—Irvine (Undergraduate #49, Undergraduate West #8)
Laguna Beach / Laguna College of Art and Design (Graduate #24, Graduate West #4)
Los Angeles / University of Southern California (Undergraduate #1, Undergraduate West #1, Graduate #3, Graduate West #1)
Pasadena / ArtCenter College of Design (Undergraduate #43, Undergraduate West #7)
San Francisco / Academy of Art University (Undergraduate #31, Undergraduate West #5)
San Jose / University of Silicon Valley (Undergraduate #30, Undergraduate West #4)
Connecticut
Hamden / Quinnipiac University (Undergraduate #21, Undergraduate Northeast #7)
District Of Columbia
Washington / American University (Graduate #22, Graduate Mid-Atlantic #2)
Florida
Coral Gables / University of Miami (Undergraduate #35, Undergraduate South #5)
Gainesville / University of Florida (Undergraduate #27, Undergraduate South #4, Graduate #20, Graduate South #4)
Orlando / University of Central Florida (Undergraduate #5, Undergraduate South #1, Graduate #2, Graduate South #1)
Winter Park / Full Sail University (Undergraduate #18, Undergraduate South #3, Graduate #16, Graduate South #3)
Georgia
Savannah / Savannah College of Art and Design (Graduate #15, Graduate South #2, Undergraduate #14, Undergraduate South #2)
Illinois
Chicago / DePaul University (Undergraduate #28, Undergraduate Midwest #6, Graduate #23, Graduate Midwest #5)
Peoria / Bradley University (Undergraduate #23, Undergraduate Midwest #4, Graduate #18, Graduate Midwest #3)
Indiana
Bloomington / Indiana University Bloomington (Undergraduate #47, Undergraduate Midwest #13)
West Lafayette / Purdue University (Undergraduate #17, Undergraduate Midwest #3, Graduate #17, Graduate Midwest #2)
Massachusetts
Boston / Northeastern University (Graduate #14, Graduate Northeast #5)
Worcester / Clark University (Undergraduate #3, Undergraduate Northeast #2, Graduate #5, Graduate Northeast #2)
Worcester / Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Undergraduate #12, Undergraduate Northeast #5, Graduate #13, Graduate Northeast #4)
Michigan
Big Rapids / Ferris State University (Undergraduate #44, Undergraduate Midwest #12)
Dearborn / University of Michigan-Dearborn (Undergraduate #39, Undergraduate Midwest #10)
East Lansing / Michigan State University (Undergraduate #10, Undergraduate Midwest #1, Graduate #9, Graduate Midwest #1)
New Jersey
Bloomfield / Bloomfield College of Montclair State University (Undergraduate #48, Undergraduate Northeast #13)
Newark / New Jersey Institute of Technology (Undergraduate #36, Undergraduate Northeast #10)
New York
Brooklyn / New York University (Undergraduate #2, Undergraduate Northeast #1, Graduate #1, Graduate Northeast #1)
Brooklyn / Pratt Institute (Undergraduate #45, Undergraduate Northeast #11)
Ithaca / Cornell University (Undergraduate #46, Undergraduate Northeast #12)
Poughkeepsie / Marist University (Undergraduate #32, Undergraduate Northeast #9)
Rochester / Rochester Institute of Technology (Undergraduate #6, Undergraduate Northeast #3, Graduate #10, Graduate Northeast #3)
Troy / Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Undergraduate #20, Undergraduate Northeast #6, Graduate #19, Graduate Northeast #6)
North Carolina
High Point / High Point University (Undergraduate #41, Undergraduate South #6)
Ohio
Cleveland / Cleveland Institute of Art (Undergraduate #42, Undergraduate Midwest #11)
New Philadelphia / Kent State University (Undergraduate #33, Undergraduate Midwest #8)
Oxford / Miami University (Undergraduate #29, Undergraduate Midwest #7)
Portsmouth / Shawnee State University (Undergraduate #15, Undergraduate Midwest #2)
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia / Drexel University (Undergraduate #7, Undergraduate Mid-Atlantic #1, Graduate #8, Graduate Mid-Atlantic #1)
Rhode Island
East Greenwich / New England Institute of Technology (Undergraduate #25, Undergraduate Northeast #8)
South Dakota
Madison / Dakota State University (Undergraduate #38, Undergraduate Midwest #9)
Texas
Abilene / Abilene Christian University (Undergraduate #26, Undergraduate Southwest #1)
Dallas / Southern Methodist University (Graduate #6, Graduate Southwest #1)
Richardson / The University of Texas at Dallas (Undergraduate #37, Undergraduate Southwest #2, Graduate #25, Graduate Southwest #2)
San Antonio / University of the Incarnate Word (Undergraduate #40, Undergraduate Southwest #3)
Utah
Salt Lake City / University of Utah (Undergraduate #4, Undergraduate West #2, Graduate #4, Graduate West #2)
Vermont
Burlington / Champlain College (Undergraduate #9, Undergraduate Northeast #4)
Washington
Redmond / DigiPen Institute of Technology (Undergraduate #11, Undergraduate West #3, Graduate #12, Graduate West #3)
Wisconsin
Menomonie / University of Wisconsin–Stout (Undergraduate #24, Undergraduate Midwest #5, Graduate #21, Graduate Midwest #4)
List of Programs: Alpha by School
Abertay University / Dundee, Angus (Undergraduate #8, Undergraduate International #1, Graduate #7, Graduate International #1)
Abilene Christian University / Abilene, TX (Undergraduate #26, Undergraduate Southwest #1)
Academy of Art University / San Francisco, CA (Undergraduate #31, Undergraduate West #5)
American University / Washington, DC (Graduate #22, Graduate Mid-Atlantic #2)
Arizona State University / Tempe, AZ (Undergraduate #50, Undergraduate Southwest #4)
ArtCenter College of Design / Pasadena, CA (Undergraduate #43, Undergraduate West #7)
Bloomfield College of Montclair State University / Bloomfield, NJ (Undergraduate #48, Undergraduate Northeast #13)
Bradley University / Peoria, IL (Undergraduate #23, Undergraduate Midwest #4, Graduate #18, Graduate Midwest #3)
Champlain College / Burlington, VT (Undergraduate #9, Undergraduate Northeast #4)
Clark University / Worcester, MA (Undergraduate #3, Undergraduate Northeast #2, Graduate #5, Graduate Northeast #2)
Cleveland Institute of Art / Cleveland, OH (Undergraduate #42, Undergraduate Midwest #11)
Cornell University / Ithaca, NY (Undergraduate #46, Undergraduate Northeast #12)
Dakota State University / Madison, SD (Undergraduate #38, Undergraduate Midwest #9)
DePaul University / Chicago, IL (Undergraduate #28, Undergraduate Midwest #6, Graduate #23, Graduate Midwest #5)
DigiPen Institute of Technology / Redmond, WA (Undergraduate #11, Undergraduate West #3, Graduate #12, Graduate West #3)
Drexel University / Philadelphia, PA (Undergraduate #7, Undergraduate Mid-Atlantic #1, Graduate #8, Graduate Mid-Atlantic #1)
Falmouth University / Falmouth, Cornwall (Undergraduate #13, Undergraduate International #2, Graduate #11, Graduate International #2)
Ferris State University / Big Rapids, MI (Undergraduate #44, Undergraduate Midwest #12)
Full Sail University / Winter Park, FL (Undergraduate #18, Undergraduate South #3, Graduate #16, Graduate South #3)
High Point University / High Point, NC (Undergraduate #41, Undergraduate South #6)
Howest University of Applied Sciences / Kortrijk, West-Flanders (Undergraduate #22, Undergraduate International #5)
Indiana University Bloomington / Bloomington, IN (Undergraduate #47, Undergraduate Midwest #13)
Kent State University / New Philadelphia, OH (Undergraduate #33, Undergraduate Midwest #8)
LaSalle College Vancouver / Vancouver, British Columbia (Undergraduate #19, Undergraduate International #4)
Laguna College of Art and Design / Laguna Beach, CA (Graduate #24, Graduate West #4)
Marist University / Poughkeepsie, NY (Undergraduate #32, Undergraduate Northeast #9)
Miami University / Oxford, OH (Undergraduate #29, Undergraduate Midwest #7)
Michigan State University / East Lansing, MI (Undergraduate #10, Undergraduate Midwest #1, Graduate #9, Graduate Midwest #1)
New England Institute of Technology / East Greenwich, RI (Undergraduate #25, Undergraduate Northeast #8)
New Jersey Institute of Technology / Newark, NJ (Undergraduate #36, Undergraduate Northeast #10)
New York Film Academy / Burbank, CA (Undergraduate #34, Undergraduate West #6)
New York University / Brooklyn, NY (Undergraduate #2, Undergraduate Northeast #1, Graduate #1, Graduate Northeast #1)
Northeastern University / Boston, MA (Graduate #14, Graduate Northeast #5)
Pratt Institute / Brooklyn, NY (Undergraduate #45, Undergraduate Northeast #11)
Purdue University / West Lafayette, IN (Undergraduate #17, Undergraduate Midwest #3, Graduate #17, Graduate Midwest #2)
Quinnipiac University / Hamden, CT (Undergraduate #21, Undergraduate Northeast #7)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute / Troy, NY (Undergraduate #20, Undergraduate Northeast #6, Graduate #19, Graduate Northeast #6)
Rochester Institute of Technology / Rochester, NY (Undergraduate #6, Undergraduate Northeast #3, Graduate #10, Graduate Northeast #3)
Savannah College of Art and Design / Savannah, GA (Graduate #15, Graduate South #2, Undergraduate #14, Undergraduate South #2)
Shawnee State University / Portsmouth, OH (Undergraduate #15, Undergraduate Midwest #2)
Southern Methodist University / Dallas, TX (Graduate #6, Graduate Southwest #1)
University of California—Irvine / Irvine, CA (Undergraduate #49, Undergraduate West #8)
University of Central Florida / Orlando, FL (Undergraduate #5, Undergraduate South #1, Graduate #2, Graduate South #1)
University of Florida / Gainesville, FL (Undergraduate #27, Undergraduate South #4, Graduate #20, Graduate South #4)
University of the Incarnate Word / San Antonio, TX (Undergraduate #40, Undergraduate Southwest #3)
University of Miami / Coral Gables, FL (Undergraduate #35, Undergraduate South #5)
University of Michigan-Dearborn / Dearborn, MI (Undergraduate #39, Undergraduate Midwest #10)
University of Silicon Valley / San Jose, CA (Undergraduate #30, Undergraduate West #4)
University of Southern California / Los Angeles, CA (Undergraduate #1, Undergraduate West #1, Graduate #3, Graduate West #1)
The University of Texas at Dallas / Richardson, TX (Undergraduate #37, Undergraduate Southwest #2, Graduate #25, Graduate Southwest #2)
University of Utah / Salt Lake City, UT (Undergraduate #4, Undergraduate West #2, Graduate #4, Graduate West #2)
University of Wisconsin–Stout / Menomonie, WI (Undergraduate #24, Undergraduate Midwest #5, Graduate #21, Graduate Midwest #4)
Vancouver Film School / Vancouver, British Columbia (Undergraduate #16, Undergraduate International #3)
Worcester Polytechnic Institute / Worcester, MA (Undergraduate #12, Undergraduate Northeast #5, Graduate #13, Graduate Northeast #4)
