Kent State University has once again been recognized as a top undergraduate school for game design by The Princeton Review®.
Kent State’s innovative Animation Game Design (AGD) program – offered through the College of Applied and Technical Studies at the Kent and Tuscarawas campuses – is nationally ranked on The Princeton Review’s 2025 list of the Top 50 Undergraduate Schools for Game Design.
The AGD program now ranks 33rd nationally, climbing 11 spots from last year’s ranking. In the Midwest regional rankings, the program jumped to an impressive 8th-place position.
Schools were chosen for the 2025 lists based on The Princeton Review's 2024 survey of administrators at 150 institutions in the U.S. and abroad offering game design studies. The survey requested information in four areas: academics, faculty, technology, and career prospects. More than 40 survey data points were analyzed to determine the school selections and tally the rankings. Information about the survey and ranking methodology is posted on The Princeton Review website.
"To students considering a career in the exciting field of game design, we highly recommend Kent State University," said Rob Franek, The Princeton Review's editor-in-chief. "Their faculties are superb. Their facilities are state-of-the-art, and their alumni include many of the industry’s most successful game designers, developers and entrepreneurs."
The Kent State AGD major provides the key concepts, creative tools and principles of diverse skills in fundamental and advanced technical knowledge of modeling, animation and game design. The program is accredited by the prestigious National Association of Schools of Arts and Design (NASAD).
“This is a monumental accomplishment attesting to excellent curricular design, instruction and commitment of resources,” said Brad Bielski, dean and chief administrative officer of Kent State Tuscarawas. “Our AGD students create amazing work under the direction of dedicated faculty, and I am very proud of them all.”
According to Chris Totten, AGD associate professor, a key component to the program’s success is the AGD faculty who are active in industry work, allowing them to make vital connections for the program and bring cutting-edge industry knowledge to their classroom teaching.
“This ranking reflects the hard work and success of our students, faculty, and staff” said Chris Totten, AGD associate professor. “We see evidence not only in this ranking, but in markers like student projects appearing in game and film festivals around the country – including Meaningful Play and Rising Tide Film Fest. Our students have won awards, such as Best Student Digital Game at Meaningful Play, and are securing jobs in various levels of the industry.”
In addition to its rise in national rankings, the AGD program is experiencing unprecedented growth.
“We have over 260 students now and are continuing to see yearly growth in both the game design and animation concentrations,” said Totten. “We’re not only training in skills, but also educating students to think experimentally with their work and hone their collaborative and project management skills. We also bring in industry pros and take students to places where they can build a network, including local conferences, like GDEX in Columbus, to the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco.”
Animation game design students create digital media works, such as cartoons, digital and non-digital games, motion graphics, 3D walkthroughs, simulations, and virtual reality environments while learning contemporary concepts in their respective program concentration. All students take core courses which introduce them to the current state of the animation and game industries while building their skills with a variety of industry-standard technologies for 2D graphics, 3D models, digital sculpting and simple animation.
Graduates of the program are prepared for and pursue careers in 2D and 3D digital graphics, architectural visualization, virtual and augmented reality, interactive training simulations and the broadcast and entertainment industries. As a field where professionals routinely integrate the work of multiple visual and audio media, students are encouraged to work collaboratively across disciplines. The selection of major electives likewise offers students pathways for building skills and knowledge in related areas.
To learn more about the Kent State College of Applied and Technical Studies’ Bachelor of Science degree in Animation Game Design, please visit https://catalog.kent.edu/colleges/ap/animation-game-design-bs/ or www.kent.edu/cats.