Purdue University's undergraduate game development program climbed to No. 15 internationally and No. 2 in the Midwest in The Princeton Review's 2026 ranking of the best schools for game design.
The program operates within Purdue Polytechnic's newly formed School of Applied and Creative Computing. It moved up two spots from its 2025 assessment, and one spot in the Midwestern region.
Feng Li, head of the School of Applied and Creative Computing, shared the announcement with college leadership and credited the teaching staff for the upward trajectory.
"The 2026 Princeton Review rankings [are] a testament to the incredible work Dave Whittinghill, Rob Howard, and the rest of the faculty are doing to elevate this program," Li said.
David Whittinghill, an associate professor, started the game development program at Purdue in 2014 with nine students. Students now begin creating games during their freshman year. They experiment with common industry roles including game design, programming, art, and project management.
"We have a distinct games industry orientation that teaches not only the individual subdisciplines of games-art, design, programming-but we focus heavily on team integration and standardization with game industry enterprise tools and processes," Whittinghill said last year. "Our faculty have deep roots in the games industry and leverage that in our courses and in steering our graduates toward enduring industry careers."
Faculty members bring direct experience from the AAA games industry to the classroom; as just one example, Rob Howard, an associate professor of practice, worked as a game designer on titles including Bioshock: Infinite. Other faculty members operate Fledgling Media, a public-private game studio operating from Purdue that provides students with an experiential learning environment.
This project-based education translates directly to the job market. Purdue alumni currently work in commercial games, film, and media. Graduates hold credits on major releases including The Last of Us Part II, League of Legends and the Destiny franchise.
The Princeton Review bases its annual lists on institutional survey data from 150 institutions. Administrators evaluate academic offerings, laboratory facilities, faculty credentials, and career outcomes to determine the top 50 programs.
Additional information
