If I wanted to study game design in master's degree in the U.S.

Game Designer - Good as you sort of learn all aspects of the game design, problem is anyone who trys to create a game thinks they are decent Game Designers, even if theyv'e had no previous experience.

Programmer - Always needed in all aspects of game, a team cant have enough of them, if you are a decent programmer it will be easy for you to get a job, even if its not in the industry.

Graphic Design - Needed quite a bit to make the game look nice, its the extra eye candy to the game (im presuming its 3d modelling included) though you will always need a programmer to make your work come to life.

I've done a 4 year Game development course... taught me all aspects though problem is it means im not "Great" in any, well i have learnt alot more now though sometimes doing an all over course is benificial for finding which route you want to take, other times it just means you are learning very little in the area you have chosen.

For information about schools, see:
http://www.gamedev.net/reference/list.asp?categoryid=77
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/links.htm
Moving to Breaking In.