Drexel Game Design Program, a joint program between the Department of Computer Science in College of Engineering and Digital Media program in the Westphal College of Media Arts and Design, has been recognized by the Princeton Review’s “Top Game Design Programs” and placed sixth in the undergraduate category and third in the graduate category. Each year, the Princeton Review selects the best undergraduate and graduate institutions in the United States and Canada that offer video game design and rank the top 15 undergraduate and top 15 graduate programs. Another 20 outstanding programs receive “Honorable Mention” designations, saluting 50 schools in all that the publication highly recommends for game design study.
Dr. Frank Lee, director of gaming for College of Engineering and co-director of the Drexel Game Design Program and a professor of computer science, has recently recruited more than 20 co-op employers into the program and, with the help of Michelle Mignot, Cooperative Education Coordinator at Drexel, placed Drexel students at top game companies like Microsoft Studios and Zynga.
“Drexel Game Design Program, co-directed by myself and my colleague and collaborator, Professor Paul Diefenbach from Digital Media program, has been consistently ranked as one of the top game design programs in the nation. And I dare say that with our win in mobile game competition at the Microsoft Imagine Cup World in 2012, we are one of the top gaming programs in the world,” says Lee. “Given our strong reputation in the game industry, we are able to establish strong relationships with some of the top game companies in the world to provide co-op opportunities for our students.”
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.
Video game programs were evaluated by the Princeton Review on four main criteria including academics (courses and skills fostered), faculty (especially the percentage who had worked in the industry), technology (game laboratories and libraries) and career (internships, job placement), according to the Princeton Review.
To view the entire list of game design programs from the Princeton Review, please click here.