Game Design Bachelor’s degree
10 programs — 7 with federal cost data, the rest suppressed for small class sizes and listed after them, led by institutions where this is the main program rather than one of many. Federal figures cover the wider program family, so a row may share its numbers with related degrees.
Data last updated
Specific program
Schools file the same degree under different federal codes — Berklee’s music production sits under “Music, Other”, Academy of Art’s under “Recording Arts”. These groups gather every code a program is actually filed under.
Delivery
Hide for-profit colleges(3 programs)What our data shows about for-profit collegesAcross the creative fields on this site, students at private for-profit institutions borrow 27% more than students at public ones ($29,332 against $23,033) and earn 15% less four years after completing ($38,361 against $45,110).The combined effect is severe. Median debt at a for-profit equals 70% of a graduate’s annual earnings, against 47% at a public institution. And 10% of for-profit programs leave graduates owing more than they earn in a year — against 1% of public ones. Ten times the rate.This is a pattern across 212 for-profit programs, not a handful of outliers, and it holds in every creative field we cover. It does not mean no for-profit program is worth taking: some appear high in our best-value rankings, and this filter hides those too. It means the odds are materially worse, and the burden of proof sits with the school.Figures are medians computed from the College Scorecard and IPEDS data behind every table on this site.
| Institution | Programcredential and delivery | at completion | 4 yrs after | Median federal loan debt at completion, divided by median earnings four years later. It answers a single question: how much of one year’s income do you owe on the day you finish?Below 50% is generally considered manageable. Above 100% means graduates owe more than they earn in a year, and repayment on a standard ten-year plan starts to consume a serious share of income.Debt covers federal loans only, so real ratios are often worse. Both figures are medians — half of graduates fall on the wrong side of each. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| School of Visual ArtsNY · Private for-profitRequest information → | Web Page, Digital/Multimedia and Information Resources DesignBachelor’s degree · On campusWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Computer GraphicsThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | $27,000 | $67,483 | 40% |
| Brigham Young University-IdahoID · Private nonprofitRequest information → | Web Page, Digital/Multimedia and Information Resources DesignBachelor’s degree · On campusWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Modeling, Virtual Environments and SimulationThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | $9,312 | $65,397 | 14% |
| Academy of Art UniversityCA · Private for-profitRequest information → | Web Page, Digital/Multimedia and Information Resources DesignBachelor’s degree · HybridWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Modeling, Virtual Environments and SimulationComputer GraphicsComputer Software and Media Applications, OtherThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | $36,750 | $73,398 | 50% |
| Dakota State UniversitySD · PublicRequest information → | Web Page, Digital/Multimedia and Information Resources DesignBachelor’s degree · On campusWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Computer GraphicsComputer Software and Media Applications, OtherThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | $27,000 | $42,513 | 64% |
| Lindenwood UniversityMO · Private nonprofitRequest information → | Web Page, Digital/Multimedia and Information Resources DesignBachelor’s degree · Online or on campusWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Computer GraphicsThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | $23,804 | $45,810 | 52% |
| Atlantic UniversityPR · Private nonprofitRequest information → | Web Page, Digital/Multimedia and Information Resources DesignBachelor’s degree · On campusWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Computer GraphicsThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | $4,049 | $21,309 | 19% |
| Pennsylvania College of TechnologyPA · PublicRequest information → | Web Page, Digital/Multimedia and Information Resources DesignBachelor’s degree · On campusWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Modeling, Virtual Environments and SimulationThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | $27,970 | $51,764 | 54% |
| New York Institute of TechnologyNY · Private nonprofitRequest information → | Web Page, Digital/Multimedia and Information Resources DesignBachelor’s degree · On campusWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Computer GraphicsThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Neumont College of Computer ScienceUT · Private for-profitRequest information → | Web Page, Digital/Multimedia and Information Resources DesignBachelor’s degree · On campusWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Modeling, Virtual Environments and SimulationThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| University of Cincinnati-Main CampusOH · PublicRequest information → | Web Page, Digital/Multimedia and Information Resources DesignBachelor’s degree · HybridWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Modeling, Virtual Environments and SimulationData Modeling/Warehousing and Database AdministrationThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | Not reported | Not reported | — |
Source: College Scorecard, Field of Study (retrieved September 2026)
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One thing these figures cannot tell you
Earnings and debt are reported by the federal government at a four-digit program level, so a figure shown against “Game Design” covers every related program at that institution rather than one named degree. Full methodology.