We’re just a month into the new year and a number of schools (and even some of the world’s most influential tech giants) are already making headlines in the world of game design programs. Steve Wozniak, Co-founder of Apple, launched Woz U just months ago, with several in-demand programs slated for 2018. Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), which launched a new game design degree just last Fall, has welcomed its very first game designer-in-residence. And then there’s Pratt Institute. One of the world’s most prestigious independent art and design colleges, Pratt Institute will celebrate the first year of its new Associate of Occupational Studies (AOS) degree in Game Design and Interactive Media (GDIM) this Fall.
We are pleased to announce that Woz U, MICA, and Pratt Institute have launched some new and exciting programs every aspiring game designer should know about. Here you go.
Woz U – Scottsdale, Arizona & Texas, USA
If you are interested in developing video games, Woz U says it can teach you the programming and software development skills you will need to compete in just 33 weeks. The new school also says it plans to work with technology companies to help them “recruit and train, or even retrain, a workforce.” This spells opportunity for graduates of Woz U programs. In fact, the school says it is “passionate about inspiring the next generation of innovators and developing the workforce of the future.”
So far, Woz U offers Computer Support Specialist and Full-Stack Software Developer (.Net, JavaScript, Ruby, Java, and Python) programs. Sometime this year, the school plans to launch Mobile Application, Data Science, and Cyber Security programs. Students in all programs will have “24/7 access to online programs with live access to instructors and mentors, high-quality video-based curriculum, and comprehensive career services.” The online program “offers flexibility for those currently working full-time, traveling or simply in need of a more adaptive approach to learning.”
Other upcoming Woz U launches include:
Woz U Academy
Coming in 2018, WU academies will feature one-to-one instruction, the most advanced teaching technology for adaptive and progressive learning styles, and career advisors to help guide students into their technology career path. Students will have the option to be fully immersed or learn at their own pace.
Woz U Accelerator
Coming in 2019, WU’s goal is to identify and develop the most elite talent through its Online and Academy platforms and place them into the fastest growing, top technology companies around the world. Students in the Accelerator program will be exceptionally skilled in the most advanced technology programs offered. Students will be offered entrepreneur programs, learn how to finance and capital raise for start-ups, and will be offered fully paid internship programs from around the world. This is an aggressive 12-16 month fully-immersive program.
Woz U Mobile App
The multi-functional mobile app includes an aptitude test, which will point prospective students to the best available career path for them, allowing them to focus on where they are most likely to grow and thrive in a technology-based career based on their interests and strengths. It is also a way for current students to access the Woz U curriculum through the school’s state-of-the-art Learning Management System (LMS) called Atlas.
The programs at Woz U lead to a Certificate of Completion.
About Woz U
Woz U is part of the private, for-profit Southern Careers Institute, which operates seven campuses in Texas as well as an online school. Inspired by Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer, Woz U specializes in technology and career-based programs designed to get people into the workforce quickly and affordably. Although it debuted as an online university, Woz U plans to eventually open physical campuses in over 30 cities in the U.S. and other unspecified countries. The school will also partner with other colleges and institutions as it grows.
Maryland Institute College of Art – Baltimore, Maryland
Maryland Institute College of Art, which began offering a degree in game design for the first time in Fall 2017, has also launched a new residency position. The school recently welcomed its inaugural Game Designer-in-Residence, Lishan AZ, 27, who told the Baltimore Sun that she’s “excited about making new projects in Baltimore.” It’s a “really unique position,” she said, “being able to teach and create games at an institution like MICA.”
Students in MICAs new game design program “explore games from a unique perspective that can only be found at an art and design college,” says the school. “Students learn to create games from the ground up, building skills in design, programming and prototyping.” Students can also concentrate in supporting areas such as 3D animation, graphic design, illustration, and sound design. Students have access to a “state-of-the-art space,” with a newly constructed Game Lab, “serving as a nexus of creative ideas and output.”
AZ will teach two courses per semester as part of her residency, and complete a play or game-based project. She will work out of the Game Lab, which is equipped with 3D printers to create game pieces, an arcade game machine for students to study, and a soldering station for students to build prototypes of game consoles. As part of her MFA thesis, AZ has already completed an “escape room-style alternate reality game about Ida B. Wells,” aptly titled Tracking Ida.
The new Game Design program has about 30 students, which Game Design Chair Jason Corace hopes to eventually grow to 80 students. The program leads to a BFA.
About MICA
Founded in 1826, Maryland Institute College of Art is the oldest continuously degree-granting college of art and design in the U.S. The College enrolls nearly 3,500 undergraduate, graduate and continuing studies students from 49 states and 65 countries in fine arts, design, electronic media, art education, liberal arts, and professional studies degree and non-credit programs.
Pratt Institute – Brooklyn & Manhattan, New York
In just a few months, Pratt Institute will celebrate the first full academic year of the school’s new two-year Associate of Occupational Studies (AOS) degree in Game Design and Interactive Media (GDIM). The curriculum, which specializes in gaming from an “artistic standpoint,” covers game design, artistry, interactivity, production, programming and prototyping. Sample courses include Game Analysis and Strategy, Storytelling and Interactive Narrative Design, Animation and Motion Graphics, Collaborative Game Design, Game Production, Serious and Submersive Games, Mobile Gaming, Collaboration Studio, and Mobile App Design.
Multidisciplinary in nature, the AOS in GDIM also stresses “software and production skills that have applications in the game design industry and the medical, web, therapeutic, and architectural industries as well as in education,” says the school. The program, which is offered through the School of Art, requires 67 credit hours and it may be completed in just four semesters.
About Pratt
Founded in 1887, Pratt Institute is one of the world’s leading colleges of art, design, and architecture. The school, which serves nearly 4,700 students, offers 22 undergraduate degree programs and 27 graduate degree programs through six schools. Pratt Institute has two campuses—Brooklyn and Manhattan, New York.