Profiles of Game Development Programs & Schools

Although a “Best” school can also be a “Top” school, the factors used to determine which schools deserve a spot and which ones do not are different. To evaluate a school for inclusion on a “Top” list, students, alums, student groups, bloggers, and others may consider cost, convenience, quality of facilities, job placement services, types of clubs and organizations, access to recreation, student body, and more. To make the “Best” list, organizations such as Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report typically assess the number of program offerings, graduation and retention rates, peer assessment, faculty resources (student-teacher ratio), financial resources, and student selectivity.

Washington State is now home to 85 Title IV colleges and universities, according to the latest reports published by the Institute of Education Sciences National Center for Education Statistics (IES NCES). A Title IV school has a number of benefits, but one of the biggest advantages is access to federal financial aid programs. In order to become a Title IV school, the institution must meet five requirements. They must (1) have accreditation recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, (2) they must sign a participation agreement with the Department, (3) they must offer a program of at least 300 clock hours in length, (4) they must grant an associate's degree or higher, and (5) they must be in business for no less than 2 years.

North Carolina is home to some of the nation’s best schools for artists and designers. These schools are “Title IV schools,” meaning they are eligible for Title IV financial aid programs. The state’s 139 Title IV schools earned this status based on fulfillment of five special requirements. Title IV schools (1) grant an associate's degree or higher, (2) have accreditation recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, (3) have signed a participation agreement with the Department, (4) have been in business for at least 2 years, and (5) offer a program of at least 300 clock hours in length.

There are so many things the average person doesn’t know about the gaming industry. Most people believe that gamers are usually kids, and mostly male. While this may have been the case many decades ago, the industry has changed significantly since then. Today, the age of the average gamer is 32, and 2 out of every 5 gamers are female. Even more amazing is, a whopping 65 percent of U.S. households play video games, and this figure is rapidly increasing. Another area that has changed over the years is the population of people working in this field. This may be the case thanks to the wide variety of ways to play video games, from consoles to computers to cell phones.