Editorial Methodology

We currently list 141 programs at 58 schools, and record 98 related offerings we checked and did not list (shown on each school page with the reason). Coverage is partial and growing: a program missing from the directory has not been verified yet.

Which schools are eligible

A school is listed when it holds a current institutional accreditation from an accreditor recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, as recorded in the Department's Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP), and offers at least one eligible degree. An .edu domain is not evidence of accreditation.

Programmatic accreditation is recorded only when the school names it for the exact program (for example NASAD for an art and design unit, or ABET for a computer science degree with a game concentration). It is never transferred from computer science, another department or a different degree, and no single specialized accreditation is required for game degrees.

Which programs are eligible

Every program carries an eligibility record: the official program title, the exact award, the degree level, the decision, an explanation and the official page that supports it. A deterministic gate checks every research decision and can only make it stricter — anything that looks like a certificate, an associate degree, esports or gambling management, a concentration without its parent degree, or a mislabelled doctorate goes to an editor instead of being published.

How programs are classified

• Exact award and level are stored separately: an MFA is never relabelled an MA, and a professional doctorate is never called a PhD.
• Field comes from the official title or named concentration — game design, game development, game programming, game art, game-focused interactive media, or game studies. A degree can carry two fields (“Game Design and Development”). Default results show game design and development programs first; related fields stay visible and selectable.
• Dedicated degree vs concentration. A computer science degree with a named game development concentration is listed as that: the award is the computer science degree.
• Doctorates are labelled as a dedicated game doctorate or a named game track within another doctorate. A professor researching games does not create a game PhD.
• Emphasis (studio/portfolio, research, or both) only when the school makes it explicit.

Delivery and campus attendance

Delivery and attendance are separate facts, each recorded only as the school states it:

• Delivery: on campus, online, or hybrid. Hybrid programs are never described as online.
• Attendance: no required physical attendance (verified) — only when the school says so explicitly; limited campus visits or residency; regular campus attendance; or not verified. An online program whose pages do not rule out residencies, exhibitions, internships or proctored exams is shown as “not verified”, never as “no attendance”.
• Study intensity (full-time, part-time, both, or not published) and schedule (synchronous or asynchronous) when published.
• Entry routes for bachelor's degrees: first-year, transfer and degree completion are separate. We never assume an online bachelor's degree accepts first-year students.

Portfolio policies and admissions

Portfolio policy is recorded as required, optional, required only for a particular pathway, or not required — the last only when the school says so explicitly. When nothing is published we show “not published”, never “no portfolio required”. Other admission items (GPA, coding or writing samples, interviews, references, statements, GRE and English tests, application fees) are shown exactly as the school states them.

What a state listing means

A program is grouped under the state where its school (or administering campus) is located. For online programs this is the school's home state; it does not mean students must live there, and it does not mean every resident of that state may enroll.

Sources and verification

Program facts come from each school's own pages — program pages, catalogs and bulletins, admissions, tuition and financial aid pages. Identity comes from IPEDS and institutional accreditation from DAPIP. Every fact stores its URL and a verbatim quote; an automated check re-fetches the page and publishes the fact only if the quote is found. Details: data sources and verification.

Unknown stays unknown. Durations such as “as few as 20 months” keep their condition. Deadlines keep the intake and year the school printed and are never rolled into a new cycle. Tuition keeps its category, basis and academic year; per-credit, per-term and whole-program figures are not compared. Tools and engines are listed only when the school names them — we do not assume a program teaches Unity, Unreal Engine or C++.

Order, selections and sponsorship

Directory pages are not rankings: by default they show game design and development programs first, then related fields, alphabetically by school. Our two Top pages are editorial selections with a separate, published rankings methodology. Paid placements are labelled “Sponsored”, sit in their own section and never change facts, selections or order. Sponsorship disclosure

What we do not claim

• We do not publish or estimate acceptance rates, graduation or placement rates, salaries, alumni game credits or employer partnerships.
• We do not generate or present student projects; student-work links go to the school's own showcases.
• Photographs are captioned with what they show. A generic image is never presented as a school's campus or a student's work.
• Listing is not an endorsement, and a school's absence is not a judgment.
• Requirements, costs and deadlines change. Always confirm with the school before applying.

Corrections

Schools and readers can suggest an update with an official source. Corrections are reviewed against official pages; nobody can edit a profile directly, and sponsorship does not change facts.