
The gaming industry of today is much different than yesterdays. Back then, video games were “for kids,” and female gamers were unheard of. Today, the age of the average gamer is 32, and 2 out of every 5 gamers are female. Back then, video games were not a common fixture in households. Today, more than 65 percent of U.S. households play video games. Another area that has changed is the population of people working in this field. The gaming industry employs hundreds of thousands of people, with more than 200,000 game designers employed alone. Other jobs in the industry include programmer, cover artist, animator, tester, and illustrator, to name a few.
Explosive growth in the industry has created a high demand for talented game designers & developers. However, talent isn’t the only requirement. Today’s game designers & developers must have years of experience and they must hold a degree from an accredited college or university. Fortunately, accredited schools for aspiring designers & developers can be found in every state. Many of these schools are also considered the best based on several significant benefits.
College ranking organizations such as Princeton Review, U.S. News & World Report, and even Forbes publish a list of the nations best schools each year. They rate the schools based on factors such as class size, student selectivity, financial resources, peer assessment, number of program offerings, faculty resources, and graduation and retention rates. In the state of Massachusetts, a number of schools made the cut.
According to the latest figures released by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), Massachusetts is now home to 124 accredited colleges and universities. While the state is home to one of the largest collections of quality colleges in the U.S., not all of them offer programs for aspiring game designers & developers. One school does, and it is considered one of the best in the state.
Northeastern University in Boston offers a number of degree programs for artists and designers. Degrees offered include a B. F. A. in Digital Art, Graphic Design; Combined Majors in Game Design, Interactive Media (type of degree awarded depends on the combination chosen), and an M. F. A. Studio Art.
More Programs to Consider:
- San Francisco & Online
- Top 50 Nationally for Animation (#14) - 2021
- Top 50 Nationally for Game Design (#37) - 2021
- Top 50 Nationally for Illustration (#24) - 2021
- Top 50 Nationally for Graphic Design (#38) - 2021
- Winter Park, FL & Online
- Computer Animation - Bachelor's - Online & Campus
- Game Programs - Bachelor's & Master's - Online & Campus
- Graphic Design & Digital Arts - Bachelor's - Online & Campus
- Film & Digital Cinematography - Bachelor's & Master's - Online & Campus
- Mobile Development - Bachelor's - Online
- Simulation & Visualization - Bachelor's - Campus
- Top 50 Nationally for Animation (#11) - 2021
- Top 50 Nationally for Game Design (#10) - 2021
- Top 25 in the South for Graphic Design (#10) - 2021
- Online