University of Miami School of Communication’s Interactive Media Program has earned a #23 ranking on The Princeton Review‘s just-published list saluting the top 25 graduate schools to study game design for 2016.
The Princeton Review chose the schools based on a survey it conducted in 2015 of 150 institutions offering game design coursework and/or degrees in the United States, Canada, and some countries abroad.
The company’s 40-question survey asked schools to report on everything from their academic offerings and faculty credentials to their graduates’ starting salaries and employment experience. Among criteria The Princeton Review weighed to make its selections: the school’s academics, facilities, career services, and technology.
“This ranking is a tribute to the quality of our faculty and the innovative curriculum they have built. Graduates from this program are being hired into fantastic positions in great organizations. It’s a pretty amazing accomplishment, given how new our program is,” said Gregory J. Shepherd, dean of the School of Communication.
The Interactive Media program aims to prepare a new generation of innovators and leaders in the field of interaction design. Its mission is to explore the use of technology, design, human behavior, and their impact on communication. The multidisciplinary curriculum brings together students from different backgrounds to learn about game design, web design, mobile, data visualization, interaction design, and other emerging technologies. The program trains students to research, prototype, design, and build projects in business, social, academic, and cultural contexts.
“It has long been our mission to help students find – and get into – the schools best for them,” said Robert Franek, Princeton Review Senior VP/Publisher. “For students aspiring to work in the burgeoning field of game design, we strongly recommend University of Miami School of Communication’s Interactive Media Program and each of the other schools that made our 2016 lists. These are truly the ‘cream of the crop’ institutions from which to launch a career. Their faculties are outstanding. Their facilities are awesome. And their alumni include legions of the industry’s most prominent game designers, developers, artists, and entrepreneurs.”
The Princeton Review’s full report on this project at www.princetonreview.com/game-design also features a companion list of “Top 50 Undergraduate Schools to Study Game Design for 2016.” It includes profiles of the schools with application information and links to the school sites.
For the fourth consecutive year, The Princeton Review teamed up with PC Gamer, a monthly magazine published by Future plc as its reporting partner on this project. PC Gamer has a feature on the list in its May issue available on newsstands March 29. The feature has information on some of the schools’ unique programs, class offerings, prominent professors, and alumni.
The Princeton Review developed its Top Schools to Study Game Design project in 2009 with assistance from a national advisory board that helped design the survey instrument and methodology. Board members included administrators and faculty from respected game design programs, and professionals from some of the top gaming companies.
The Princeton Review is also known for its annual rankings of colleges, law schools, and business schools in dozens of categories, which it reports on its site, and in its books including The Best 380 Colleges, The Best 295 Business Schools, and The Best 173 Law Schools. The company is not affiliated with Princeton University.
