DePaul University earned an honorable mention on The Princeton Review’s second annual list of the best graduate schools in the United States and Canada for video game design. 

The Princeton Review’s list “Top Schools for Video Game Design Study for 2011” salutes 30 institutions in all (15 undergraduate and 15 graduate) for their outstanding game design education programs.  The ranking was established in 2009-2010 in partnership with GamePro, one of the most respected brands in the video game industry, which reaches more than 3 million gamers a month.  

Ten undergraduate and 10 graduate schools are ranked from1 to 10.  Five schools in each group also are recognized as honorable mentions.  Reported in the April GamePro magazine (on newsstands March 8), the list also is accessible on the websites of The Princeton Review at www.princetonreview.com/game-design.aspx and GamePro at http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/218324/the-princeton-reviews-top-10-grad-undergrad-game-design-schools/.

The Princeton Review, one of the nation’s best-known education services companies, chose the schools based on a survey of administrators at 150 institutions offering video game design coursework and/or degrees in the United States and Canada. Conducted during the 2010-11 academic year, the survey included more than 50 questions. Topics ranged from academics, curricula and faculty credentials to graduates’ employment and career achievements.  School selections were based on a comprehensive analysis of data that examined the quality of the curriculum, faculty, facilities and infrastructure, in addition to the school’s scholarships, financial aid and career services.

DePaul’s Game Development program also was recently honored when Octodad, a game developed by a team of DePaul gaming students, was named one of eight Student Showcase Winners for the 2011 Independent Games Festival at the Game Developers Conference.   It was the second year in a row in which a project by DePaul students was selected for the honor.

To learn more about DePaul’s Game Development program, visit http://gamedev.depaul.edu/ .

About the College of Computing and Digital Media

With more than 3,000 students enrolled in its undergraduate and graduate programs, the College of Computing and Digital Media (CDM) is one of the largest colleges of its kind in the nation.  CDM’s faculty come from distinguished research, academic and industry backgrounds and have access to on-campus research laboratories dedicated to artificial intelligence, computer vision and graphics, digital media, high-performance computing and other premier technologies. The National Security Agency has recognized CDM as a national leader in computer network security and information assurance education. The college has received numerous national honors in recent years, including being one of the inaugural six universities selected to participate in the Sony Pictures Imageworks IPAX program. CDM utilizes faculty and industry experts-in-residence to prepare students for the job market in Chicago and around the nation.

 About DePaul University

With more than 25,000 students, DePaul University is the largest Catholic university in the United States and the largest private, non-profit university in the Midwest. The university offers more than 260 graduate and undergraduate programs of study on two Chicago campuses, four suburban and several international locations. Founded in 1898 on the St. Vincent de Paul principle of expanding access to education, DePaul remains committed to providing a quality education through personal attention to students from a wide range of backgrounds.  For more information, go to www.depaul.edu.

Web sites:

http://www.princetonreview.com/game-design.aspx

http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/218324/the-princeton-reviews-top-10-grad-undergrad-game-design-schools/