Admissions Blog

Undergraduate Admissions Uncensored

  • Admissions.Blog

Top game design programs for 2017

Posted on April 6, 2017 by Nancy Griesemer

The Princeton Review recently released its eighth annual report on undergraduate and graduate schools with top programs for studying or launching a career in game design.

And the University of Southern California captured the No. 1 spot on the undergraduate list of schools (up from #2 in 2016). Southern Methodist University (SMU) took the top place on the graduate schools list (also up from #2 last year).

“USC Games represents an exciting collaboration between the School of Cinematic Arts’ Interactive Media & Games Division and the Viterbi School of Engineering’s Department of Computer Science,” explains the USC Games website. “Incorporating elements of design, artistry, production and engineering, USC Games offers an utterly unique educational experience for students, and serves as the launching pad for them to play significant roles in the game design field.”

According to CNN Money and PayScale, video game design is in the top third of “best jobs” in America, with potential for substantial growth, great pay and satisfying work. What’s particularly appealing about the profession is that the industry is relatively new, so it’s still an innovative field open to pioneers and creative minds.

Formerly assigned to a far corner of the computer science department, game design has emerged as a respectable, multidisciplinary course of study. And schools hoping to cash in on the growing market for designers are building glitzy new facilities tricked out with cutting-edge technology and equipment.

The Princeton Review selected schools based on a survey of 150 institutions in the U.S., Canada and abroad offering video game design programs or courses. The 40-question survey asked schools to report on a range of topics from academic offerings and lab facilities to starting salaries and career achievements.

“Game design is an exciting field and programs are springing up in colleges all over the world, said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s Editor in Chief. “The top schools on our lists have outstanding faculties and great facilities which will give students the skills and experience they need to pursue a career in this dynamic and burgeoning field.”

Although relatively new, George Mason University has a well-respected game design program in the Washington metropolitan area and has received recognition, along with the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) as among the 50 best game design schools and colleges by gamedesigning.org. Using slightly different criteria from that used by Princeton Review, GameDesigning ranks the University of Southern California, the University of Utah, and DigiPen Institute of Technology as the top three programs in the field.

And for the record, the Princeton Review’s top 25 undergraduate schools to study game design for 2017 are:

  • University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)
  • Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY)
  • University of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT)
  • DigiPen Institute of Technology (Redmond, WA)
  • Becker College (Worcester, MA)
  • Hampshire College (Amherst, MA)
  • New York University (Brooklyn, NY)
  • The Art Institute of Vancouver (Vancouver, British Columbia)
  • Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA)
  • Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI)
  • Vancouver Film School (Vancouver, British Columbia)
  • Bradley University (Peoria, IL)
  • Northeastern University (Boston, MA)
  • Champlain College (Burlington, VT)
  • University of Wisconsin-Stout (Menomonie, WI)
  • Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Worcester, MA)
  • The University of Texas at Dallas (Richardson, TX)
  • DePaul University (Chicago, IL)
  • Abertay University (Dundee, Scotland)
  • Ferris State University (Big Rapids, MI)
  • University of California-Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz, CA)
  • Shawnee State University (Portsmouth, OH)
  • Cogswell College (San Jose, CA)
  • Savannah College of Art and Design (Savannah, GA)
  • Miami University (Oxford, OH)

Keep in mind that like any other “ranking,” this list represents one organization’s opinions and should provide little more than “food for thought” or a starting place for a more thorough investigation of a whole range of video game design programs.

NOTE:  George Mason University will be holding Game Design Open Houses on April 8 and April 22, 2017. This could be a great way to learn about game design in general and the George Mason program in specific.  Interested students can reserve a space by emailing Mary Bean ([email protected]) or calling 703.993.5734.

About Nancy Griesemer

Nancy Griesemer is an independent educational consultant and founder of College Explorations LLC. Nancy has written extensively and authoritatively about the college admissions process and related topics since 2009. 

Filed Under: Advice & Analysis, College List, Majors Tagged With: Game Design, George Mason University

Related posts:

U.S. News Reveals its Top 10 Undergraduate Business Programs of 2019 The Common App announces new members for 2017-18 High School Freshmen & Sophomores Need a Game Plan A ‘must-have’ guide to public university honors programs

Subscribe to our mailing list

UNC and a tale of one – make that four – acceptance rates

Rice University Launches Business Major for Undergrads

Yale Releases 2021 Admissions Stats

Trending Posts

Georgetown’s 2020 School-Specific Acceptance Rates

University of Exeter makes international student scholarship and admissions news

1404 Error: University of Georgia Early Action Stats Full of Spin

Dear 9th Grader: Don’t get rejected from the Ivy League so soon!

The 3 Dos and Dont’s to get Accepted into America’s Most Selective Colleges

12 of the nation’s most prestigious science competitions for high school students

Dear 11th Grader: Don’t Screw Up Your Ivy League Chances Now

The Ultimate Virtual College Admissions Library – 2020 Edition

Building Your Best College List

Amherst Shares Latest Admissions Stats

Dear 12th Grader: Don’t Blow Your Ivy Chances Now

Many high school counselors mean well but…

What the death of SAT Subject Tests means for strong high school students

Another Reason Why Your Common Application Essay is So Bad

Dear 10th Grader: Don’t Become An Ivy League Reject!

Colgate’s 2021 Admissions Stats

Best College Acceptance Gifts for the Class of 2021

Avoid Tuition Anxiety: Put Strong Merit Aid Colleges on Your List

What to make of Tufts’ Early Decision Deadline Extension

Featured Blog Topics

  • 3 Year Degree (2)
  • Accommodations (2)
  • Admissions Policies (70)
  • Admissions Statistics (42)
  • Advice & Analysis (259)
  • Alabama (1)
  • Amherst (1)
  • AP (2)
  • Applications (59)
  • Arizona (3)
  • Boston University (2)
  • Brown (2)
  • Bryn Mawr (1)
  • Caltech (1)
  • Canada (2)
  • Career and Technical Education (4)
  • Case Western (3)
  • China (1)
  • CMC (1)
  • Coalition (13)
  • College Counselor (14)
  • College Fairs (4)
  • College Life (21)
  • College List (30)
  • College List Deathmatch (4)
  • College Visit (16)
  • Columbia (5)
  • Common Application (28)
  • Community Colleges (4)
  • Cornell (2)
  • COVID-19 (6)
  • Dartmouth (2)
  • Demonstrated Interest (15)
  • DePaul (1)
  • Dickinson (1)
  • Duke (1)
  • Early Action (27)
  • Early Decision (31)
  • Enrichment (12)
  • Essays (18)
  • Europe (4)
  • Exeter (1)
  • Extracurricular Activities (25)
  • Feature (1)
  • Financial Aid (20)
  • First Person (10)
  • France (1)
  • Gap Programs (2)
  • GED (1)
  • Georgetown (3)
  • Germany (2)
  • GPA (3)
  • Hamilton (1)
  • Harvard (4)
  • High School (18)
  • HiSET (1)
  • IB (2)
  • IEC (1)
  • Indiana (2)
  • International (3)
  • Internships (5)
  • Interviews (10)
  • Iowa (1)
  • Ivy League (18)
  • JHU (2)
  • LD (1)
  • Majors (9)
  • MIT (3)
  • Naviance (2)
  • NCAA (3)
  • News (37)
  • Northwestern (2)
  • Notification News (1)
  • Notre Dame (1)
  • NYU (1)
  • Of Note (3)
  • Parents (6)
  • Penn (5)
  • Popular Posts (9)
  • Princeton (4)
  • Priority (2)
  • Professor of the Month (1)
  • PSU (3)
  • Public Universities (8)
  • Purdue (1)
  • Rankings (4)
  • Recommendations (5)
  • Regular (13)
  • Research (4)
  • Resume (17)
  • Rice (1)
  • ROI (2)
  • Rolling (5)
  • South America (2)
  • Standardized Tests (27)
  • Stanford (1)
  • Summer (18)
  • Swarthmore (1)
  • TASC (1)
  • Teacher Recommendations (7)
  • Texas (2)
  • Ticker (17)
  • Trending Posts (19)
  • Tufts (3)
  • Tuition (2)
  • Tulane (2)
  • UC Berkeley (5)
  • UCAS (3)
  • UCLA (6)
  • UF (1)
  • UGA (2)
  • UMass (1)
  • UMD (4)
  • UNC (1)
  • Uncategorized (1)
  • United Kingdom (4)
  • Universal College Application (1)
  • University of Chicago (1)
  • University of Rochester (1)
  • USC (1)
  • UVA (6)
  • Vanderbilt (1)
  • Video Game Design (1)
  • Villanova (2)
  • Wash U (4)
  • Williams (1)
  • Wisconsin (1)
  • Yale (9)
  • ZeeMee (1)
Get Expert College Admissions Coaching Now

 

Write for Us | Sponsored Posts
All content © 2021 | Admissions.Blog
Terms of Service | +1 410-526-2558
Support Admissions.Blog; donate any amount of Bitcoin to the address or by using the QR Code below.
3CsE43YgJN4R8B9o6E3JJxqVoBWp4wUDoE

Copyright © 2021 · Metro Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in