![3. DigiPen Institute of Technology, WA"The Bachelor of Arts in Game Design concentrates on the visual and narrative aspects of game design. The first year of the program focuses primarily on developing fundamental knowledge and skills in drawing, color, tone, composition, and animation, in addition to communications, mathematics, and computer science."](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/hash/79/60/796085bdd1946e2f0593d2a56b137b94.jpg?itok=1-TL8rOD "3. DigiPen Institute of Technology, WA"The Bachelor of Arts in Game Design concentrates on the visual and narrative aspects of game design. The first year of the program focuses primarily on developing fundamental knowledge and skills in drawing, color, tone, composition, and animation, in addition to communications, mathematics, and computer science."")
![2. University of Southern California (USC), CA"The USC Games Program is a joint effort between the SCA’s Interactive Media and Games Division and USC Viterbi but encourages collaboration across all schools and divisions at USC. Incorporating elements of design, artistry and engineering, the program offers a unique educational experience for students and serves as the launching pad for significant roles in the game design field."](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/hash/03/f0/03f0e8de59057c713104a618786e85a9.jpg?itok=z1hy0-bi "2. University of Southern California (USC), CA"The USC Games Program is a joint effort between the SCA’s Interactive Media and Games Division and USC Viterbi but encourages collaboration across all schools and divisions at USC. Incorporating elements of design, artistry and engineering, the program offers a unique educational experience for students and serves as the launching pad for significant roles in the game design field.""){kind=small}
![1. University of Utah"The Entertainment Arts and Engineering Program is an interdisciplinary undergraduate and master’s level graduate program at the University of Utah. EAE was jointly developed with the Department of Film and Media Arts and the School of Computing, and our aim is to produce graduates ready to design, develop, create assets, and provide leadership for the video games of today and tomorrow."](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/hash/ca/11/ca11b7ea4a3f99398ecb628b4a1a9d66.jpg?itok=ruGpR24Q "1. University of Utah"The Entertainment Arts and Engineering Program is an interdisciplinary undergraduate and master’s level graduate program at the University of Utah. EAE was jointly developed with the Department of Film and Media Arts and the School of Computing, and our aim is to produce graduates ready to design, develop, create assets, and provide leadership for the video games of today and tomorrow."")
High school students interested in turning a video game hobby into a career might be interested in the latest report on video game design programs produced by the Princeton Review in conjunction with PC Gamer, a monthly magazine published by Future US.
The report, “Top Schools to Study Video Game Design for 2013,” is based on a survey the Princeton Review conducted of 150 programs at institutions in the US and Canada offering video game design coursework and/or degrees.
The top schools were chosen based on criteria covering the quality of curriculum, faculty, facilities, and infrastructure. The Princeton Review also factored in data collected on scholarships, financial aid, and career services.
Formerly consigned to a far corner of the computer science department, game design has emerged has a highly respectable, multi-disciplinary course of study. And schools hoping to get in on the growing market for designers are building glitzy new facilities tricked out with cutting edge technology and equipment.
Locally, both American University and George Mason offer well-regarded video game design courses and programs. In fact, when the video game design degree was added to GMU’s growing list of programs, enrollment was 500 percent higher than expected.
In addition, video game programs at Old Dominion, University of Maryland Baltimore County, and Lynchburg College have been considered among the best in the country.
But anyone determined to explore Princeton Review’s top programs will have to travel out of the immediate area—the nearest school on the list is Drexel University in Philadelphia, at #6.
According to Princeton Review and PC Gamer, the top 10 undergraduate schools for video game design study in 2013 are (program descriptions provided by individual college websites):
![1. University of Utah"The Entertainment Arts and Engineering Program is an interdisciplinary undergraduate and master’s level graduate program at the University of Utah. EAE was jointly developed with the Department of Film and Media Arts and the School of Computing, and our aim is to produce graduates ready to design, develop, create assets, and provide leadership for the video games of today and tomorrow."](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/profile_large/hash/82/77/82772534c6b3d5f67c183f3d2151c544.jpg?itok=8YMEccSk "1. University of Utah"The Entertainment Arts and Engineering Program is an interdisciplinary undergraduate and master’s level graduate program at the University of Utah. EAE was jointly developed with the Department of Film and Media Arts and the School of Computing, and our aim is to produce graduates ready to design, develop, create assets, and provide leadership for the video games of today and tomorrow."")
![2. University of Southern California (USC), CA"The USC Games Program is a joint effort between the SCA’s Interactive Media and Games Division and USC Viterbi but encourages collaboration across all schools and divisions at USC. Incorporating elements of design, artistry and engineering, the program offers a unique educational experience for students and serves as the launching pad for significant roles in the game design field."](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/profile_large/hash/ea/14/ea14228e250d98a88eff80a7fdf8fd72.jpg?itok=imWpsIhH "2. University of Southern California (USC), CA"The USC Games Program is a joint effort between the SCA’s Interactive Media and Games Division and USC Viterbi but encourages collaboration across all schools and divisions at USC. Incorporating elements of design, artistry and engineering, the program offers a unique educational experience for students and serves as the launching pad for significant roles in the game design field."")
![3. DigiPen Institute of Technology, WA"The Bachelor of Arts in Game Design concentrates on the visual and narrative aspects of game design. The first year of the program focuses primarily on developing fundamental knowledge and skills in drawing, color, tone, composition, and animation, in addition to communications, mathematics, and computer science."](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/profile_large/hash/86/79/8679ba9543be691fa936039797fc4e09.jpg?itok=TOWPFkzB "3. DigiPen Institute of Technology, WA"The Bachelor of Arts in Game Design concentrates on the visual and narrative aspects of game design. The first year of the program focuses primarily on developing fundamental knowledge and skills in drawing, color, tone, composition, and animation, in addition to communications, mathematics, and computer science."")
![4. Rochester Institute of Technology, NY"The Bachelors of Science in Game Design and Development defines a program of study that allows students to explore the entertainment technology landscape as well as other related areas, while still pursuing a broad-based university education."](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/profile_large/hash/f2/ca/f2ca56cfc9c60450b6b226535cba311b.jpg?itok=ayK-TrWw "4. Rochester Institute of Technology, NY"The Bachelors of Science in Game Design and Development defines a program of study that allows students to explore the entertainment technology landscape as well as other related areas, while still pursuing a broad-based university education."")
![5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), MA"The MIT Game Lab is a research group of MIT Comparative Media Studies in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. MIT has established new game research facilities in the Karl Taylor Compton Laboratories (Building 26), where MIT's first computer game, Spacewar!, was developed 50 years ago."](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/profile_large/hash/a0/8b/a08b8e44a7a2150e13ae08d7c9283195.jpg?itok=BWCRlJA5 "5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), MA"The MIT Game Lab is a research group of MIT Comparative Media Studies in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. MIT has established new game research facilities in the Karl Taylor Compton Laboratories (Building 26), where MIT's first computer game, Spacewar!, was developed 50 years ago."")
![6. Drexel University, PA"Drexel’s video game program includes the Research on Play or “RePlay” Lab, a collaborative effort between the University’s Department of Computer Science in Drexel Engineering and the Digital Media program in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design. RePlay exposes students to game development through research projects and proof-of-concept demonstrations, enabling students to not just learn video game development, but to live it."](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/profile_large/hash/8c/cd/8ccdfee7b36fb65e04521b696d4d5203.jpg?itok=wQVymi-S "6. Drexel University, PA"Drexel’s video game program includes the Research on Play or “RePlay” Lab, a collaborative effort between the University’s Department of Computer Science in Drexel Engineering and the Digital Media program in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design. RePlay exposes students to game development through research projects and proof-of-concept demonstrations, enabling students to not just learn video game development, but to live it."")
![7. Shawnee State University, OH"At Shawnee State University, we believe it takes both sides of the brain to create outstanding games. That's why we offer two separate – but coordinated – programs in digital simulation and gaming." ](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/profile_large/hash/82/2f/822f8981fe8961c2307fbb9e029bc5b9.JPG?itok=7rO8nIA- "7. Shawnee State University, OH"At Shawnee State University, we believe it takes both sides of the brain to create outstanding games. That's why we offer two separate – but coordinated – programs in digital simulation and gaming." ")
![8. Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) Atlanta, GA"The SCAD interactive design and game development program prepares students to pursue areas of game art and design or interactive media forms such as Web design, user experience design and digital installation art. Students work on screen-based productions, as well as presentations in physical spaces."](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/profile_large/hash/e8/ce/e8ce4369d989f79e9073e10c6dbdf562.jpg?itok=KvngrCKf "8. Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) Atlanta, GA"The SCAD interactive design and game development program prepares students to pursue areas of game art and design or interactive media forms such as Web design, user experience design and digital installation art. Students work on screen-based productions, as well as presentations in physical spaces."")
![8. Art Institute of Vancouver, Canada"In this program, students can take their creativity and imaginations to a new level. In the game art and design program at The Art Institute of Vancouver, students learn hands on, using industry-related software and technology. Students receiving game design training are taught to combine their artistic and digital skills with their passion for gaming"](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/profile_large/hash/14/51/1363710218_7622_art.jpg?itok=zkk69ofE "8. Art Institute of Vancouver, Canada"In this program, students can take their creativity and imaginations to a new level. In the game art and design program at The Art Institute of Vancouver, students learn hands on, using industry-related software and technology. Students receiving game design training are taught to combine their artistic and digital skills with their passion for gaming"")
![10. Michigan State University, MI"In Fall 2005, the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media at Michigan State University launched the interdisciplinary specialization in Game Design and Development. The specialization brings together students in Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media, Computer Science, and Studio Art."](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/profile_large/hash/d6/24/1363710440_2744_MichiganState.jpg?itok=6VWOwF53 "10. Michigan State University, MI"In Fall 2005, the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media at Michigan State University launched the interdisciplinary specialization in Game Design and Development. The specialization brings together students in Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media, Computer Science, and Studio Art."")
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