Picking the right college affects everything. It decides whether you get a good job, good money, get married, and now, whether you’ll beat BioShock before the summer.

The Global Gaming League ranked the top 10 best colleges for video gaming. They ranked schools based on student population, techiness, and the quality of internet connections. Surprisingly, no Ivy Leagues made it in to the top 10 which I can only blame on prejudice against rich, white kids.

Ironically, Digipen Institute of Technology, with one of the best video game programs in the country, was number five. Other schools like UCLA (#4) and University of Southern California (#6) are also very well regarded academic schools. So I say this is proof video games is good for education. Yes, is. (For the full list, check after the jump).

Compared to further research by Anderson Analytics and Pew Research, half of students surveyed admit gaming cuts into their studying. Only nine percent use games to avoid schoolwork, and 83 percent play less than six hours a week. Not surprisingly, male students played for fun while female students played cause of boredom.

For now, I doubt schools will be advertising their attractiveness to gamers. But I wonder if, much like party schools, students will care about which schools care about its student’s tech geekiness. Just always remember. Independent studies are your best friend. Study the history of Grand Theft Auto. Your homework: beat Grand Theft Auto III over the weekend. Complete 100 taxi missions and get extra credit.

The top 10 gaming schools:

1. The University of Texas, Austin, Tex.
2. Penn State University, State College, Penn.
3. Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York
4. The University of California, Los Angeles, LA, Calif.
5. Digipen Institute of Technology, Redmond, Wash.
6. The University of Southern California, LA, Calif.
7. Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia
8. The University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn.
9. The University of Michigan, Dearborn, Mich.
10. Full Sail Real World Education, Orlando, Fla.

Via Educational-Portal.com