Game Design · California
California colleges that awarded Game Design credentials
26 colleges in California reported conferring Game Design credentials to the federal IPEDS collection in 2024-25, and every one of them also awarded in the year before. 16 awarded a degree, and 10 awarded only a certificate. That is a record of credentials already awarded, not confirmation that a program is currently admitting.
Colleges and what they awarded
Largest first by credentials conferred in 2024-25. That order measures the size of the graduating class and nothing else: it is not a ranking, and the largest entry is often a certificate provider rather than the strongest degree program. The credential is labelled on every row for exactly that reason.
How much of this field is in California
- Credentials awarded
- 364
- Share of U.S. total
- 13%
- Colleges awarding it
- 26
- Awarding a degree
- 16
California colleges conferred 364 Game Design credentials in 2024-25, which is 13% of the 2,846 conferred across the 40 U.S. jurisdictions reporting any. Of the 26 colleges here, 16 awarded a degree and 10 awarded only a certificate. These counts measure the size of graduating classes, not program quality, and not how many students are currently enrolled.
What level those credentials were
- Certificates: 34%, 122 credentials.
- Associate: 16%, 59 credentials.
- Bachelor's: 41%, 151 credentials.
- Graduate: 9%, 32 credentials.
Most Game Design credentials awarded in California were bachelor's degrees. The mix here is close to the national pattern for this field. A certificate is a different credential from a degree, not a lesser one, and the level a program awards is set by the program rather than by the student.
We measured how much this varies nationwide, and for most fields the credential level is set by the field rather than the state: is your major a certificate or a degree?
How concentrated it is. The single college with the largest reported graduating class in this field accounted for 19% of California’s Game Design credentials. Activity is spread across several institutions rather than sitting with one.
What these California colleges cost
Median net price across the 20 of these 26 colleges that report it, by family income. Net price is what students receiving federal aid actually paid for the WHOLE college after grants and scholarships, so it is not the price of a Game Design program specifically, and not a quote for any family.
- 0-30k
- $6,865
- 30-48k
- $7,234
- 48-75k
- $9,917
- 75-110k
- $11,914
- 110k+
- $14,345
By the kind of college
The figure above averages very different institutions together. Split by federal sector, for a family earning under $30,000:
| Kind of college | Colleges | Median net price |
|---|---|---|
| Public two-year | 10 | $2,495 |
| Private | 8 | $30,414 |
Sector is the federal classification (IPEDS ICLEVEL and CONTROL). Private covers both nonprofit and for-profit colleges, which CampusPin does not split here because the for-profit sample in a single state is usually too small to publish a median. Each row needs at least five colleges reporting net price, so a sector with fewer is left out rather than estimated.
A family earning under $30,000 paid a median of $6,865 at these colleges, against $14,345 for a family earning over $110,000. Individual colleges vary widely around these medians. See every California college by income band.
What this evidence does and does not prove
This lists colleges that reported conferring credentials in this field to the federal IPEDS completions collection, in both 2023-24 and 2024-25. It does not confirm that any of them is currently admitting students to the program, and a college can appear here after deciding to close it. Confirm with the institution before it affects where you apply.
How this list was built
From the U.S. Department of Education IPEDS completions collection, matched to each college on its exact federal program classification. A college appears only if it conferred credentials in both 2023-24 and 2024-25, which is what separates a running program from one that has already closed.
This page exists because its list of colleges is materially different from that of every closely related field in California — the fields a reader could otherwise mistake it for, such as two engineering disciplines, or nursing and practical nursing. Where a related field resolves to the same colleges, the second page would be the first one with its title changed, and CampusPin does not publish it. Sharing colleges with an unrelated field is different, and not a reason to withhold the page: in most states the same colleges award business, psychology and biology alike, which says something about the colleges rather than about the fields. We measured exactly how often that happens, and published the result: does choosing a major narrow your college list?
What Game Design graduates go on to do
Occupations the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk associates with Game Design, ordered by projected annual openings. National figures: openings and pay do not vary by where you studied, and the crosswalk describes related fields rather than a required or guaranteed path.
| Occupation | Median pay | Openings / yr | Most entrants hold |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postsecondary Teachers, All Other | $78,490 | 13,500 | Doctoral or professional degree |
| Special Effects Artists and Animators | $99,800 | 5,000 | Bachelor's degree |
Crosswalk: U.S. Department of Education (NCES), CIP 2020 to SOC 2018. Pay and projections: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2024 wages, Employment Projections). “Most entrants hold” is what BLS observes about people already in the occupation, not a legal requirement, an admission rule, or a guarantee of entry. Projected openings are a projection, not jobs promised.
Questions about Game Design in California
- How many colleges in California awarded Game Design credentials?
- 26 colleges in California reported conferring Game Design credentials to the federal IPEDS completions collection in 2024-25, 16 of them a degree rather than only a certificate. Together they awarded 364 credentials in the fields covered.
- Does this mean these colleges currently offer Game Design?
- Not necessarily. Completions record credentials already awarded, so they confirm a program ran and graduated students. They do not confirm it is still admitting. Every college here also awarded in the prior year, which makes a closed program less likely, but confirm directly with the institution before it affects where you apply.
- Is a college missing from this list?
- Possibly. A new program with no graduates yet does not appear, and CampusPin matches the federal classification exactly rather than guessing, so a college filing under a neighbouring code is absent. Absence is never evidence a program does not exist.