Game Design (Graduate Certificate)

Print Degree Planner (opens a new window) |

Offered jointly by the School of Communication and the College of Arts and Sciences , the Game Design (Graduate Certificate) combines game design and game development. The program develops students’ intellectual capacity as designers, developers, consumers, and game administrators.

Admission to the Program

Students must have a degree from an accredited college or university with at least a 3.0 grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) in the last 60 hours of undergraduate work. The GPA requirement may be waived for applicants with more than five years of full-time professional experience. An undergraduate degree in communication is not required.

Applicants whose native or first language is not English must demonstrate proof of language proficiency by submitting satisfactory results from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), unless they have received a degree from an accredited U.S. institution. A minimum TOEFL score of at least 600 on the paper-based version (PBT) or 100 on the internet-based test (iBT) version is required. A minimum IELTS test score of 7.0 is also accepted. American University does not provide immigration documents for entry to the United States for international students in this program.

Certificate Requirements

15 credit hours with grades of B or better
Compliance with all regulations for a certificate (Graduate Academic Regulations 4.11 , 5 , 6 )

Course Requirements

Core (12 credit hours)

Electives (3 credit hours)

Complete 3 credit hours from the following, or other non-GAME courses approved by program director: