Computer Game Programming Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Computer Game Programming maps to BLS occupations averaging about $143,798, with roughly 961,420 workers nationwide in those roles. Median in-state published tuition is about $4,376; common paths include Computer Hardware Engineers and Computer Systems Analysts.
Key Statistics
Computer Game Programming: what the data shows
Common questions about computer game programming degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a computer game programming degree?
A Computer Game Programming program is classified under NCES CIP 11.0204 in the Computer Programming field family (11.02).
A program that prepares individuals to apply the knowledge and skills of design and computer programming to the development of computer games. Includes training in character and story development, computer programming, computer graphics, game design, game physics, human-computer interaction, human-centered design, and usability
IPEDS counted 414 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of computer game programming degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 11.02 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Computer Programming, Specific Applications (CIP 11.0202)
- Computer Programming, Specific Platforms (CIP 11.0205)
- Computer Programming, Vendor/Product Certification (CIP 11.0203)
- Computer Programming/Programmer, General (CIP 11.0201)
How long does it take to get a computer game programming degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 11.0204 in our file:
- 40 Associate (8.8% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 414 Bachelor's (91.2% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What degree do you need?
For Computer Hardware Engineers (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%). Bachelor's awards account for a majority of IPEDS completions for CIP 11.0204, but occupation data show multiple pathways.
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a computer game programming degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Computer Game Programming to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Computer Hardware Engineers | 75,710 | $155,020 |
| Computer Systems Analysts | 497,800 | $103,790 |
| Electronics Engineers, Except Computer | 93,940 | $127,590 |
| Information Security Analysts | 179,430 | $124,910 |
| Budget Analysts | 47,170 | $87,930 |
| Credit Analysts | 67,370 | $80,970 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a computer game programming degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Computer Programming bachelor's program family: median debt $64,481, median earnings $83,439 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 1.28.
About 5.8% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $4,376 and median net price is $9,298.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Computer Game Programming and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$4,376 Median In-State Public
$22,480 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Computer Game Programming majors are, on average, $4,376 for in-state public colleges, and $22,480 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Computer Game Programming programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
100,000 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Computer Game Programming from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Computer Game Programming.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 163,164 |
| 2 | Western Governors University | UT | 155,088 |
| 3 | University of Phoenix-Arizona | AZ | 85,991 |
| 4 | University of Phoenix-Arizona | AZ | 85,991 |
| 5 | University of Phoenix-Arizona | AZ | 85,991 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Computer Game Programming programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antelope Valley Community College District | CA | $1,124 |
| 2 | Antelope Valley Community College District | CA | $1,124 |
| 3 | Woodland Community College | CA | $1,124 |
| 4 | Yuba College | CA | $1,128 |
| 5 | Yuba College | CA | $1,128 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Computer Game Programming programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Mexico State University-Grants | NM | $68 |
| 2 | College of San Mateo | CA | $536 |
| 3 | College of San Mateo | CA | $536 |
| 4 | Wiregrass Georgia Technical College | GA | $614 |
| 5 | Wiregrass Georgia Technical College | GA | $614 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Computer Game Programming programs.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.
Graduation/completion rates for Computer Game Programming programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Computer Game Programming is in UT (156 completions). That state represents about 37.7% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is VT (0.15% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| UT | 156 | 37.7% | 0.14% |
| GA | 65 | 15.7% | 0.06% |
| CA | 49 | 11.8% | 0.01% |
| OH | 37 | 8.9% | 0.03% |
| NY | 36 | 8.7% | 0.01% |
| VT | 19 | 4.6% | 0.15% |
| MI | 16 | 3.9% | 0.01% |
| DE | 11 | 2.7% | 0.08% |
| AZ | 10 | 2.4% | 0.01% |
| RI | 10 | 2.4% | 0.04% |
| PA | 5 | 1.2% | 0.00% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 11.02 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Computer Programming, Specific Applications CIP 11.0202
- Computer Programming, Specific Platforms CIP 11.0205
- Computer Programming, Vendor/Product Certification CIP 11.0203
- Computer Programming/Programmer, General CIP 11.0201
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 11.0204 in the survey year used in our extract (454 total across levels below).
- 40 Associate (8.8% of IPEDS total)
- 414 Bachelor's (91.2% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $143,798. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Computer Game Programming graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Computer Hardware Engineers | $188,333 | 75,710 |
| Computer Systems Analysts | $136,553 | 497,800 |
| Electronics Engineers, Except Computer | $162,232 | 93,940 |
| Information Security Analysts | $156,788 | 179,430 |
| Budget Analysts | $110,155 | 47,170 |
| Credit Analysts | $110,532 | 67,370 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the Computer Programming CIP family (3 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Computer Game Programming graduate.
- $64,481 median federal loan debt among completers
- $83,439 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 1.28 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 5.8% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$143,798 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Computer Game Programming majors is $143,798.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Computer Game Programming majors.
Occupations by Share
961,420 2023 Workforce
The number of Computer Game Programming graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Computer Game Programming by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Computer Game Programming in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Computer Game Programming.
Age distribution for Computer Game Programming degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
414 Total Degrees Awarded
342 Male (82.61%)
72 Female (17.39%)
Gender distribution of Computer Game Programming degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
196 White (47.34%)
43 Asian (10.39%)
42 Hispanic or Latino (10.14%)
35 Black or African American (8.45%)
21 Two or More Races (5.07%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Computer Game Programming degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Computer Game Programming are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Computer Game Programming.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Computer Game Programming field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Computer Game Programming majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Computer Game Programming majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Computer Game Programming majors.
About
A program that prepares individuals to apply the knowledge and skills of design and computer programming to the development of computer games. Includes training in character and story development, computer programming, computer graphics, game design, game physics, human-computer interaction, human-centered design, and usability
In 2023, 100,000 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Computer Game Programming.
CIP Code
11.0204 - Computer Game Programming
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $64,481 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $83,439, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 1.28. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Computer Game Programming graduate.
Men earned 19.1% of 492 Computer Game Programming completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $143,798. The largest mapped role by headcount is Computer Hardware Engineers (75,710 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $4,376 in-state at public colleges and $22,480 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.