RIT game design and development programs ranked among top five worldwide
Traci Westcott/RIT
RIT’s games programs were ranked among the top five by The Princeton Review in 2026.
When it comes to a dream career in game design, every journey starts at the same place—picking the right university.
According to new international rankings from The Princeton Review, Rochester Institute of Technology is one of the top five game design universities in the world.
RIT’s game design and development program was ranked fourth at the undergraduate level and the graduate level. RIT jumped in the rankings from last year—from sixth and 10th respectively. Among colleges in the northeast, RIT was named second best.
RIT’s undergrad and graduate programs are housed in the School of Interactive Games and Media (IGM) within the Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences.
“RIT Games has a growing portfolio of programs that prepare students for all aspects of games and games-adjacent industries,” said David Schwartz, director of IGM. “Our graduates are equipped with technical expertise in 3D, real-time interactive design and development processes and technologies, and that helps students get jobs.”
RIT offers diverse paths for aspiring game designers, including several bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, and a combined accelerated BS/MS option in game design and development. Computing and information sciences Ph.D. students can also specialize in games research.
The Princeton Review noted that 88 percent of students in RIT’s undergraduate games programs were hired in 2025. RIT’s job rates were the highest among the top 40 schools on the annual list.
Many RIT students develop and ship games while in school. RIT’s MAGIC Spell Studios supports the entrepreneurial ambitions of students and faculty who are seeking to publish and distribute films, games, and interactive experiences or start new digital media businesses.
RIT students and faculty have published games on platforms, including Steam and Nintendo Switch. RIT was the first university to publish on the Xbox One platform. Each year, RIT student game developers show off their work at major conferences, including GDC.
Students at RIT also get to take part in cooperative education—full-time paid work experiences that provide an opportunity to learn on the job in real-world industry settings. With help from the co-op program, graduates of RIT’s games programs have started careers at companies including Blizzard Entertainment, WB Games New York, Rockstar Games, Nvidia, Interactive, and Microsoft.
The Princeton Review tallied the 2026 ranking based on a survey of administrators at more than 150 institutions offering game design courses and/or degrees. The survey covered four areas: academics, faculty, technology, and career prospects.
The full lists, which name the “Top 50” undergraduate and “Top 25” graduate schools, are posted on the Top Game Design Schools 2026 website. There, users can also review the methodology and profiles about each school. The 17th annual list is also published in the May issue of PC Gamer magazine.
Learn more about the university’s offerings at RIT Games.
Career-ready graduates
Johnny Fagerlin, a fourth-year game design and development, said that RIT’s School of Interactive Games and Media (IGM) has given him a unique perspective on computing, programmatic development, and problem solving in codebases.
“This uniqueness provides RIT’s IGM students with a huge edge in a highly competitive job market,” said Fagerlin, who is from Newton, N.J. “In interviews and applications, being able to discuss those unique focuses in design, or specialty in graphics programming, or even that time spent with animation and 3D modeling creates a really diverse set of skills that can help in a massive range of fields.
Fagerlin added, “It certainly provided me a massive leg up in the interview that would lead to my first co-op.”
As a student, Fagerlin did co-ops with Gleason Works, a machining manufacturer in Rochester. After graduation this May, he’ll work full time as a software engineer at Gleason Works.
